Smiles and soft words from Education are no substitute for Proper Debate and Meaningful Answers says UUP man
Ulster Unionist Education spokesman and Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea today said Education Minister Catriona Ruane was dodging key questions in education. In a statement Mr McCrea said,
“We have many great schools in Lagan Valley. The threat of closure, merger or take over weighs heavily on every bodies mind. Confusion, fear and Stress stalk the classroom and those waiting outside the schools. What is happening they ask? If one of the problems with the 11+ was the stress that it induced, the current situation is 10 times worse. Some pupils in Year 5 have now started tests again. We look to the Minister for Education for some guidance and get nothing only smiles and soft words.
Her decisions appear muddled and confused. Why did she open the three schools and close the fourth. Why has she not tackled the more pressing issues which require urgent attention?
It does seem rather arrogant, provocative even and it certainly does not appear to be a strategy designed to encourage engagement, cooperative working and buy-in.
This may be a misunderstanding, I have heard her say on many occasions that she will meet with the committee and she will listen to their views but and there is always a “but”, if she can’t convince them she will then do it her way.
This does not appear to be a winning strategy, it suggests a lack of confidence, an inability to make a cogent argument and such an approach has profound implications for the long term future of this Assembly.
There are decisions to be made, hard decisions and but these decisions should not be made in an arbitrary manner. Given the divided nature of our society and the need to build a consensus before anything happens, the central role of the Assembly in this process must be respected.
When will the Minister bring forward for debate issues such as academic selection, Irish medium, numeracy and literacy, early years?
These issues are of huge interest to the public and would inform both her and the public. The Minister appears to believe that if she smiles sweetly, and uses comforting words that this will suffice. It won’t! Education in all its forms has profound implications for society and it is time we talked about the issues and made some decisions.”