DUP must explain how it has saved Academic Selection - Carson
Cllr Angus Carson, Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford in the Assembly elections, has said the DUP must explain how it is going to deliver on its claim of retaining academic selection in schools.
Mr Carson, a leading Ards Borough Councillor, said:
“The current form of academic selection is the 11Plus but it is being ended by law and the DUP cannot stop that happening.
“At St Andrews what the DUP did was negotiate for the Assembly, if it wished, to replace this outgoing 11Plus with an alternative ability based test. It then claimed this meant the DUP had saved academic selection.
“However, since making that claim, the DUP has been forced on to the retreat. For the DUP to deliver the retention of academic selection they must enjoy the support of nationalist MLAs – who oppose academic selection. The DUP’s claim depends on the likes of Sinn Fein doing a ‘u-turn’ on its education policy position.
“What on earth has been saved? Parents will expect answers.”