Friends of Grammar Schools

Simon Doyle, Education Correspondent

637 words

Publication date: 31 March 2009

Source: The Irish News

A new English and maths transfer test is to be designed for Catholic grammar schools after Church leaders gave them the go-ahead to operate academic selection in the short term.

Schools will be allowed to run entrance exams next year but should all be operating an alternative system of transfer by no later than 2012.

The policy on post-primary transfer was unveiled yesterday by the Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education.

It said selection at age 11 was no longer appropriate and urged politicians to find a compromise.

Parents are now largely in the same position as they were two months ago, waiting to see whether the grammar school they want to send their child to will continue with testing.

Head teachers at Catholic schools are due to meet this week to decide what to do in the interim and it is expected some will offer tests.

If politicians can set aside their differences and find an agreed legislative framework for transfer, the commission’s policy will be abandoned.

The commission, which represents the owners of about 550 Catholic schools, had tasked a group of principals with devising new transfer arrangements.

It was concerned about the prospect of an unregulated system next year as around 40 grammar schools said they would defy guidance by Caitriona Ruane not to use academic criteria to select pupils.

She had initially wanted to introduce a temporary transfer test to phase out academic selection but could not get executive agreement.

That group of principals made recommendations on a “clear and coherent way forward for the whole Catholic sector” two weeks ago.

The commission said in the absence of a regulated system of transfer, it accepted the working group view that an academic test may be appropriate in the short term, particularly for oversubscribed schools.

Those opting for tests should ensure they do not discriminate against any children, will avoid children having to sit a multiplicity of tests, will use tests for only a limited time and will focus on English and mathematics in the context of the curriculum.

It is understood that the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), which sets entrance tests in England, is to be asked to devise a new maths and English test.

A small group of schools had previously signalled their intention to offer IQ-style verbal reasoning tests, also drawn up by the NFER, but this plan is thought now to have been shelved.

The new test is yet to be commissioned but it is understood that pupils could sit it later in the 2009/10 school year to give NFER more time to prepare.

The commission further said that all schools should implement education minister Caitriona Ruane’s guidance – which asks them to operate non-academic admissions criteria only – “as fully as possible”.

Cardinal Sean Brady said he recognised the widespread concerns of parents about the uncertain and disruptive situation faced if a regulated system of transfer was not made available.

“I welcome the emphasis placed by the working group on a unified response from Catholic schools as a means of addressing these concerns,” he said.

“It is important that the family of Catholic schools act in a spirit of interdependence and solidarity in responding to this and other educational issues.”

Cardinal Brady appealed to all of the political parties in the executive and assembly to work to find an agreed legislative framework for post-primary transfer.

“With good will and a spirit of compromise, keeping the interests of children and parents foremost in our considerations, an agreed way forward has to be possible,” he said.

“Such agreement would send a strong signal to the whole community that local politicians can bring principled and constructive solutions to fundamental issues of concern to our society.”