Unity

From Unity, 21 November 2009

Selection at 11+ goes on

by Jimmy Stewart

Education Minister Caitríona Ruane’s decision to abolish the 11+ selection examination was, and is, strongly opposed by the DUP and the UUP.
     Both unionist parties have campaigned for the continuation of selection at eleven and have encouraged the grammar schools to set their own test for primary school children before they leave their schools. This flies in the face of the opinions of teachers’ unions and the vast majority of educationalists, who are opposed to selection.
     DUP and UUP leaders and grammar school governors by demanding selection at 11+ are really showing the class basis which the 11+ provided.
     They also ignore the fact that in working-class areas, such as the Shankill, children there had much lower results and were therefore described as “failures.”
     In sharp contrast, those from Protestant middle-class families had high rates of success. In other words, in those areas their parents could afford to pay for private tuition for their children whilst the vast majority of working-class parents couldn’t afford the cost.
     Now, thanks to the anti-Ruane campaign by the DUP in particular, the grammar school governors are now imposing selection tests on eleven-year-old children who wish to enter their schools.
     Last Saturday around 7,000 children were subjected to these tests and around the same number will undergo them in Catholic grammar schools this Saturday.
     The examinations are in English and maths. They last for anything between one hour and 45 minutes. Also in some cases these examinations will be in four parts—that is, over a four-week period.
     Grammar school principals have admitted that, as in the former 11+, they will be graded A, B1, B2, C1, C2, and D.
     However, there has been no clear announcement by grammar school chiefs as to how the final selection would be made, and even those parents who have subjected their children to these tests are uneasy as to how the final decision on their child’s future education will be made.
     Education Minister Caitríona Ruane has already warned grammar school bosses that by implementing tests of selection at eleven they could in future face costly legal challenges from disgruntled parents.
     The carrying out of these tests has taken place despite the advice of the Education Minister and the opposition of teachers’ unions and many educationalists, and indeed of many teachers at the coalface in primary schools.
     The real issue is that our education system does not provide equal opportunity for all children. It is class-biased in favour of the well heeled and will continue to be so until post-primary educational establishments are on an equal basis, with no difference in facilities between grammar and secondary schools.

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