Burnside says Ruane’s proposals ludicrous
Commenting on the Education Minister’s proposals, Mr Burnside said :
“Suggesting a selection age of 14 when the vast majority of schools are organised on an 11-19 basis shows that this Minister is out of touch with reality. What is she telling us ? Does she mean that she will create new middle schools catering for the 11-14 age group ? Does she mean that pupils will continue in Primary Schools until they are 14 ? Either route would be a massive undertaking and would take anything up to 10 years to realise. Yet the Education Minister says the 11 Plus will be gone by 2009 to be replaced by selection at 14 in 2009.”
“The only place in Northern Ireland which has selection at 14 is North Armagh with its local Dickson Plan. It may be appropriate in that area but if the Minister does try to roll out something like the Dickson Plan across the Province, she will be ignoring the fact that the Dickson Plan actually still contains an element of selection. The only difference is that it happens at 14 instead of 11.”
“This sort of stuff, like the Minister herself, belongs in the Celtic mist. It is the sort of un-costed clap-trap which takes no account of the harsh financial realities facing this Executive. We need to get a dose of realism into this equation at the earliest opportunity.”
“We should be tacking the real educational issues such as literacy, numeracy, creating a skilled and employable workforce, sorting out the problems of under achievement and celebrating and building on the enormous academic success which our Grammar Schools have been.”