PRESS RELEASE

ACADEMIC SELECTION

As teachers and pupils settle into a new school year the recognised teachers’ unions have once again joined in their condemnation of the lack of progress in ending academic selection. They are calling on local politicians to end the stalemate over what system will be used to transfer children from primary to secondary education and have re-emphasised that 14 is the significant age for career pathway decisions.

Avril Hall-Callaghan, General Secretary of UTU said, “ It is time to end the limbo that schools find themselves in. We are now two months away from the final 11-plus tests and yet teachers have still not been advised what is to happen. This puts them in a very difficult position in advising parents about their children’s future transfer to post primary schools. We need clear agreement from the politicians and an end to using children as pawns in some political bargaining game.”

Frank Bunting, Northern Secretary of INTO, went on to say, “ The Minister has made some proposals about a three year phasing-out process. While the teacher unions would prefer all testing to have gone after this year, nevertheless we recognise that the Minister’s suggestions are a compromise that at least will provide a way forward in the right direction. It is time for our locally elected representatives to sit down and talk and come to an agreed position.”

Seamus Searson, Regional Organiser of NASUWT, added, “ Teachers have been very patient but they need to know what lies ahead. The choice of pathways at 14 should make transfer at age 11 less significant but area-based planning needs to proceed urgently so that the education structures are in place in time for the new system. Teachers also need time to prepare and train for what lies ahead.”

Fern Turner of the NAHT agreed that schools cannot be left to deal with this intolerable situation and that political leadership is crucial. She said “ Principals are concerned about the confusion that exists around future testing. Schools need a clear route to follow – not a profusion of different tests produced by different bodies.  NAHT is convinced that it will be impossible to assess children who have been educated through the revised curriculum using traditional assessment methods.  Indeed we have no doubt that parents will quite rightly challenge any such test on the basis that it can not appropriately measure their child’s development or attainment and cannot therefore be used as a selection tool.”

Mark Langhammer, Regional Director of ATL, has major concerns about the impact any testing regime will have on the new Revised Curriculum introduced into primary schools recently which teachers have widely acclaimed as a huge step forward. He said, “ Teachers are enthusiastic about the new curriculum and the opportunities it gives to develop young people’s skills and talents in a holistic way. The testing that is proposed by the AQE is a very narrow mechanism and is not compatible with progressive thinking in education worldwide.”