Education
“A working democracy must have in place effective mechanisms for holding the Executive to account…”
As the BBC reports, the Northern Ireland Appeal Court has delivered, “with regret”, its judgement on the NI Department of Education’s appeal of the “abuse of power” ruling that followed a judicial review of the then-minister Sinn Féin’s Caitríona Ruane’s refusal to provide funding for Loreto Grammar School’s planned new-build on its existing site in Omagh. As the BBC report notes [...] more »
Is my education system better than your education system? Finland vs the world.
Depending on who you ask, Scotland has a world class education system, a Northern Ireland grammar school education is the envy of the UK, and pupils from Anahilt primary school go on to dominate the head girl and head boy posts in local post-primary schools (according to a leaflet in Lisburn Library). Idly browsing through [...] more »
GCSE results … and 9,000 sixteen year olds
(Blog posts are better when they cover one idea at a time. This follows on from the previous post about the Belfast Telegraph’s coverage of Laurelhill Community College’s inspection report.) The front page of the Laurellhill Community College website links to a news item from August which – while omitting any figures – explains: the [...] more »
Which hat is a politician wearing when they speak? Readers need context.
An article in Wednesday’s Belfast Telegraph [not online] (that made it onto the front page by the evening edition) drew attention to the latest Education and Training Inspectorate report on Laurelhill Community College in Lisburn. Lindsay Fergus reported that: A sixth secondary school in greater Belfast has been placed under special measures after being found [...] more »
Peter Robinson tactics, strategy and Stranmillis
Mick has a blog on Alex Kane’s latest column looking at Peter Robinson’s conference speech below as has Chris Donnelly. One line in it struck me that Robinson was a master strategist. I have in the past described Robinson as a good tactician but a poor strategist. However, more recently I have begun to think [...] more »
Northern Ireland youth and the critical importance of mobility…
There’s an interesting longitudinal research just published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the problems faced by 18 young people growing up in Northern Ireland. Each were interviewed up to seven times since the research began back in 1997. They’re all now aged 25 to 33. It tells a series of stories (without pretending it [...] more »
The not-so-elitist grammar school education (with the exception of Lumen Christi and Rathmore)
An article in today’s Belfast Telegraph [some detail now online] contains the results of this year’s Freedom of Information trawl around NI grammar schools to find out about their Year 8 entrance policies for the 2011 intake. With two different exam systems (AQE and GL assessment), varying degrees of using the overall scores or grades/quintiles, [...] more »
“Nonsense, Minister.” – Redux
Sinn Féin’s ideologically driven campaign against grammar schools continues, and it’s the Northern Ireland Education Minister, SF’s John O’Dowd, who’s making the strange claims. When the Association of Quality Education (AQE) tests were being sat this year the Minister labelled them ”a clever marketing device”. For the Post-Primary Transfer Consortium (PPTC) of schools, who will use a separate [...] more »
Robinson: “shared education is the way forward”
I was fortunate enough to catch the end of an event in Newcastle last night when children from thirteen maintained, controlled and integrated primary schools ‘graduated’ from the Shared Languages, Shared Cultures programme, run by the town’s Shimna Integrated College. The programme, supported by Queen’s University’s Sharing Education Programme (hats off to Prof Tony Gallagher) and [...] more »
Hutton: the future in Belfast MUST be flexible
We’ll be coming back to the Creating a Good Economy conference several times over the next few days… Between Alan, Geoff and Ivor we’ve a shed load of content to share. There was lots of good stuff. Two things stand out: one Arlene’s insistence that the late arrival of the programme for government would have [...] more »
“You’re not being taught to think outside the box, to think differently from other people…”
Great to see Eamonn dip his toes in the Audioboo waters, not least using that great address book he has… in this piece he talks to the Northern Bank economist Angela McGowan… Skills base deficit hurting economy here (mp3) A good way through, Eamonn invites Angela to comment on educational deficits, at which she notes [...] more »
GCSE reform: “It is unlikely that the Minister’s decision on this issue would stop the current position…”
In June this year the UK Government’s Education Secretary, Michael Gove, welcomed Ofqual’s proposals for making changes for GCSE courses and, on 27 September, a consultation was launched on changes to the current GCSE specifications in England. Today the Northern Ireland Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd, launched a consultation on on making the same changes to current GCSE specifications here. [...] more »
“A considerable element of this will be financed by charging higher fees to students from England, Scotland and Wales.”
With the headlines grabbed on Thursday, and the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers off to Hollywood [USA], the only thing left for Employment and Learning Minister, Stephen Farry, to do was to inform the NI Assembly of the details on tuition fees. According to the BBC report “These decisions are a clear indication that the executive [...] more »
One School of Thought Campaign launch open letter calling for Integrated Education
The One School of Thought Campaign has sent an open letter to our MLAs calling on them to reform education here. The group is pro integration: they call on the Education Minister to: To establish a Commission in this Assembly term. This Commission should be charged with: • Bringing forward recommendations to resolve all the [...] more »
Grammar school intake – hoovering up pupils at the expense of local secondary schools?
Having posted about and charted the recent GCSE results, my thinking turned to that old chestnut of grammar school intake. While some grammar schools manage to fill their First Form Year 8 places with pupils achieving the top grades/marks in transfer tests, others fill up with local students right the way across the academic spectrum. [...] more »
What’s the real story behind today’s GCSE results?
Much of the mainstream media’s reporting around this morning’s GCSE results has focussed on the highest grades. The clipping to the right (from a BBC News online article) is a typical example. Not much mention of any grade below C. Mick’s post from earlier today has already started some discussion. The disparity between male and [...] more »
What do the GCSE Results tell us about employment propects?
The truth is, probably not a great deal. The trend in Northern Ireland is pretty established: best top end performances in the UK; and the worst record of students leaving with no qualifications at all. Education Minister John O’Dowd has been questioned several times about a .5% drop in the NI performance; which, to be [...] more »
Farry’s dilemma over variable tuition fees deepens…
Good piece from Liam Clarke noting that the Scottish First Minister’s cunning plan to close the funding hole in his Higher Education budget by charging non Scotland domiciled students up to £9,000 pa whilst delivering it free to local students is facing a legal challenge, creates further problems for Higher Education minister Stephen Farry… It’s [...] more »
Platform for Change should go to ground
Following on from Gladys’s post, some thoughts about Platform for Change from a well-wisher. Robin Wilson’s powerful analysis of the party manifestos in the recent election reached the predictable conclusion: “It is clear on the one hand that the ‘unionist’ manifestos tend to uphold ‘traditional’ Protestant-communalist positions on issues like parades, which can only continue [...] more »
Local democracy, a Big Idea for the new Assembly
What chance now for more normal politics after the smash victories of the DUP and Sinn Fein? The pessimistic answer is that with an even firmer grip on their electorates, deadlock in government will tighten further, as a natural consequence of a system that insulates each party from the wider interests of the community as a whole. That may [...] more »
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Books
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Talking to a brick wall: how to make politicians listen?
It took me a long time to warm to advertising agencies. The first time I worked with one I was working in sales management on Fairy Washing Up Liquid. I was due to attend a meeting at which I was to be told what consumers really thought of the brand. I remember my reluctance to [...] read our review »
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Turas, by Colin Neill – a story of strangers in a strange land
Colin Neill’s first novel Turas peeks into a world in which many Ulster Protestants feel uncomfortable. It’s 2020 and the Irish unification that unionists and loyalists confidently predicted would never happen has become a reality. President Adams is ensconced in Phoenix Park. The newsreader reported that … a short ceremony at Stormont had confirmed the [...] read our review »
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The lost art of reading (or drowning in too much information)…
Here’s a great review of a fascinating book (H/T reader Rory) on how the Internet is destroying our capacity for intelligent, focused and critical thought. It opens thus: …here is the news that Ulin brings in this slim, meandering book: that reading is “an act of contemplation”; that such an act becomes more difficult in [...] read our review »
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