Education
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 »
Alliance go back to college and work – what did their manifesto say about DEL?
In the end, I never got round to reading the 150 page Alliance manifesto before the election. On Friday night, the five main parties informally ran d’Hondt to select their ministries – and announced the informal selections via the Executive’s twitter account, controversially some suggest – allowing them to spend the weekend making informed choices [...] more »
DENI appeal “abuse of power” ruling
The BBC report that the Northern Ireland Department of Education, including presumably the NI Education Minister Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane, have lodged an official appeal against the “abuse of power” ruling that followed a judicial review of the minister’s refusal to provide funding for Loreto Grammar School’s planned new-build on its existing site in Omagh. From the BBC report [...] more »
Irish schools should be ‘returned’ to the State from Church…
Garret FitzGerald argues that the Republic should return to the status quo from before the state ‘gifted’ a large chunk of the school estate to the Catholic Church: This unique educational structure appears to have remained unchanged under British rule and thereafter until 1971, when over 90 per cent of our primary schools were made [...] more »
Where is the corporation tax debate?
The corporation tax debate in Northern Ireland is unusual within the pattern of development for UK devolution. In our case, it’s the UK minister who is pushing and prodding the local administration fearful of permanent cuts to the block grant to bid for taxation powers, rather than the other way round as in Scotland and [...] more »
Loreto Grammar School decision “an abuse of power”
As the BBC reports, Belfast High Court has delivered a damning ruling in the judicial review of the Northern Ireland Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane’s decision not to fund a £14.6million new build for, Catholic, Loreto College Loreto Grammar School, Omagh. [corrected school name] From the BBC report …Justice McCloskey concluded that the conduct, delay and inactivity of [...] more »
Wot knowledge-based society?
Defenders of Northern Ireland’s education system often claim its one of the best in the world. Indeed, in their promotional materials, InvestNI make the (unreferenced) claim “the education system in Northern Ireland is recognised as one of the best in Europe, consistently outperforming all other UK regions in academic qualifications“. What to make then of [...] more »
Unionist Pacts: yet again
There have long been discussions and suggestions regarding the possibility of a unionist pact: the suggestion seems to be as old as the splits within unionism. Indeed although some “liberal” or “progressive” unionists deride the idea, the reality is that the suggestion has very significant popularity throughout the unionist electorate. In the past I have [...] more »
Belfast Telegraph interview Catriona Ruane
Catriona Ruane has an interview in the Belfast Telegraph. Unsurprisingly she is completely unrepentant about her time as Education Minister. She says she regards the abolition of the 11 plus as her “proudest achievement” and that she has achieved “about one of the most progressive and radical reforms of education since the Partition of Ireland”. [...] more »
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Books
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The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday (Neil MacFarquhar)
With perhaps the longest title of any book I’ve read this year, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East gives an insight into the lives of people living in Middle East through the eyes of journalist Neil MacFarquhar. MacFarquhar’s father was a chemical engineer [...] read our review »
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Eamon Nancarrow’s misadventures in Rock…
It’s the quiet ones you have to watch, they say. When I last saw Eamonn Namcarrow, back in the mid 1980s he was a congenial, good-natured and highly sociable young lad. The next time was 26 years later, in Lavery’s Gin Palace in Bradbury Place. He’d just brought out his first book, Holywood Star about [...] 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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