Education – Page 12 – Slugger O'Toole

“in the absence of a regulated system of transfer..”

Pete Baker on March 30, 2009, 4:54 pm

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On Hearts and Minds last week the Northern Ireland Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Cáitríona Ruane, assured Noel Thompson that “[The Catholic Church] told me, they were at pains to point out they would not be requesting a test… That they would [not] be requesting a test from the Department.” Today the NI Commission for Catholic Education finally made public their proposals. So far we just have a report in the Belfast Telegraph and from the BBC. The Commission for Catholic …

“Nonsense, Minister.”

Pete Baker on March 27, 2009, 8:19 pm

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Despite frequently suggesting the contrary, the Northern Ireland Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Cáitríona Ruane, doesn’t have the political mandate required to legislate for her Tranfer2010 guidelines the then NIO Minister Angela Smith’s post-primary transfer proposals. Hence the vacuum, guidelines, and an unregulated system. We’ll have to wait to see what the Catholic Church actually proposes about an interim test.. But here’s Cáitríona Ruane on Hearts and Minds last night putting her fingers in her ears and singing “na na na …

Ruane’s proposals are Smith’s without the ‘required work’…

Mick Fealty on March 25, 2009, 1:18 am

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Interesting aside from Brendan Harron of the INTO teachers’ union towards the end of his Stormont Live interview, in which he notes there is nothing new in Catriona Ruane’s ‘heavily consulted’ proposals. In fact they are precisely the same ‘heavily consulted’ proposals brought forward by the Direct Rule Minister Angela Smith in 2006: Future transfer arrangements will be on the basis of informed parental choice. Parents will have a broader assessment of their child’s needs using the Pupil Profile and …

Alliance Party and SDLP call for interim CCEA test

Pete Baker on March 24, 2009, 11:28 pm

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Stormont Live managed to squeeze in news of a development in the wrangling over the Northern Ireland Education Minister Caitríona Ruane’s unregulated post-primary transfer system – described by education representatives for the Methodist, Church of Ireland and Presbyterian churches as “a failure in good governance.” In the NI Assembly today the Alliance Party tabled a motion calling on the Education Minister “to re-commission the CCEA test, she abandoned on 2 February 2009, that schools may then use for a maximum …

Litir Oscailte do Dhominic Ó Brollacháin BTR / Open letter to Dominic Bradley MLA

Ciarán Dunbar on March 21, 2009, 6:06 pm

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UPDATE : I will have to apologise, I have re-interogated my sources – I have as one poster has put it ‘been sold a pup.’ I felt that as my source was a person I trusted and without political ties, I trusted the story 100%. However, my ‘letter’ to Dominic was inaccurate on two counts. 1. The recent meeting(s) regarding this matter were a private ones. No politican would have been invited. 2. The public meeting at which ONE SDLP …

“Boards of Governors will still remain as the employing body..”

Pete Baker on March 20, 2009, 6:37 pm

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In the second part of last night’s set piece on Hearts and Minds between Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd and the DUP’s Mervyn Storey we got the answer to a question I posted a week ago. Apparently John O’Dowd doesn’t think that Cardinal Brady should just “move on” from his concerns about the ESA because his views “aren’t based purely on politics” [So much for the primacy of politics then – Ed]. Thanks Noel! And no wonder Mervyn Storey was cautious …

Ignoring the political reality – redux

Pete Baker on March 20, 2009, 6:03 pm

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One point of interest to emerge from yet another set piece between Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd and the DUP’s Mervyn Storey on Hearts and Minds last night was John O’Dowd’s declaration that – “Politicians are elected to make decisions”. He was supporting Mervyn Storey’s assertion that politicians must make the final decision regardless of the intervention by the churches. Except that, in the absence of political agreement in the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, the NI Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s …

“He’s not averse to symbolising the process of poetry”

Pete Baker on March 19, 2009, 6:55 pm

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The BBC report on the presentation of the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime’s achievement in literature to Seamus Heaney includes an audio clip of an interview on Radio 4’s Front Row – more Heaney interviews here. The Guardian adds the detail of the two poems Heaney chose to represent his body of work – The Underground and A Drink of Water. There’s the river in the trees.. Meanwhile, John Sutherland asks £40,000? Is that all? Although it should be …

“a failure in good governance”

Pete Baker on March 19, 2009, 3:33 pm

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I had noted Cardinal Sean Brady’s concerns about the Education and Skills Authority ahead of his appearance in front of the NI Assembly’s Education Committee yesterday, and the comments by the Chairman of the Committee, the DUP’s Mervyn Storey. [Did John O’Dowd tell the Cardinal to ‘move on’? – Ed] In the Irish Times Gerry Moriarty reports on that meeting. Cardinal Brady expressed considerable concern that the department’s planned new Education and Skills Authority (ESA) would undermine the ability of …

“We’re unclear what the implications might be..”

Pete Baker on March 17, 2009, 2:13 am

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Despite being opposed to academic selection the Northern Ireland Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane, believes pupils from Irish medium primary schools must get an equal chance of a grammar school place. So, in the new unregulated system, English medium post-primary schools may have to offer Irish language version of their transfer tests.. just like the 11-plus.. From the BBC report The representative body for Irish-medium education in Northern Ireland, Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta, has written to grammar school groups about …

More concerns about Education and Skills Authority

Pete Baker on March 16, 2009, 9:16 pm

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The UUP’s Basil McCrea and Cardinal Sean Brady have both expressed concern about the proposed Education and Skills Authority – and Will Crawley has more from Cardinal Brady on the importance of Catholic schools. Today on Stormont Live it was DUP MLA Mervyn Storey’s turn. He’ll be chairing the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Education Committee when Cardinal Brady appears in front of them on Wednesday. Pete Baker

Will Cardinal “put aside his political views and [move] on”?

Pete Baker on March 13, 2009, 3:52 pm

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Budgetary concerns to one side for now, last week the Belfast Telegraph reported that when, at the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Education Committee meeting, the UUP’s Basil McCrea expressed concerns about the proposed Education and Skills Authority He said the role of the board of governors would be undermined by the ESA. “We are implacably opposed to a trojan horse,” he said. “This is not about education, this is about more ministerial control over schools.” Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd’s responded by …

“I have consistently stated my desire..”

Pete Baker on March 7, 2009, 3:10 am

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Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd may have welcomed the Northern Ireland Education Minister Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane’s announcement of the 2009/10 education budget, but he’s hardly a reliable witness. Elsewhere, BBC NI’s Maggie Taggart details the cuts involved. The department had set aside £22.7m to finance the early retirement of teachers, that figure is now £6m. School maintenance will get only £5m extra, when the total bill is £200m. There will be no expansion of the youth service and no extra …

Ignoring the political reality

Pete Baker on February 17, 2009, 12:52 am

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With the failure of the polit-bureau to agree, the Northern Ireland Education Minister Sinn Féin’s Caitríona Ruane’s privatisation of the post-primary transfer system had raised questions about the political damage done to her, and her party. In the NI Assembly today, egged on by some of her party colleagues, the NI Education Minister was answering questions revealing the extent to which she is ignoring the political reality. Pete Baker

Celebrating Charles Darwin

Pete Baker on February 12, 2009, 9:13 pm

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On the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and in the year of the 150th Anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, a New York Times op-ed offers a timely thought, “The cultural opposition to evolution was then, as now, scientifically irrelevant.” [added emphasis]. The BBC is covering the anniversary with an impressive series of programmes and a dedicated website. The Natural History Museum has more information and events. And Scientific American has a Darwin …

“Those were the days, my friend..”

Pete Baker on February 9, 2009, 12:13 am

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When the Northern Ireland Education Minister announced the detailed policies guidance privatisation of the post-primary transfer system to the NI Assembly Sinn Féin MLAs packed into the benches behind Caitríona Ruane in an obvious attempt to demonstrate the party’s support for her position. Even the International Representative for West Belfast was there, and he had migrated from the back-bench to a more unfamiliar seat on the front-bench. [But where was Martin McGuinness? – Ed] Where indeed.. On the Politics Show …

“11-plus examination in Northern Ireland was, in effect, privatised..”

Pete Baker on February 7, 2009, 5:25 pm

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With the failure of the polit-bureau to agree having left the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly politically impotent, the NI Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitríona Ruane, ignored the political reality and defaulted to a right-wing/libertarian unregulated post-primary transfer system – or, as Henry McDonald put it, “the 11-plus examination in Northern Ireland was, in effect, privatised”. Garibaldy adds a left-wing analysis of Sinn Féin’s position. Meanwhile, on Hearts and Minds, after their opening gambits, the DUP’s Mervyn Storey and Sinn …

Citybeat Slugger politics spot…

Mick Fealty on February 4, 2009, 8:12 pm

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As promised last night, the Slugger politics slot on Citybeat last night. To be a regular feature once a month. This month: Education reforms and the Consultative Group on the Past report… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

“We are effectively doing it on behalf of the wider government in Northern Ireland”

Pete Baker on February 4, 2009, 7:41 pm

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More problems with the public procurement process [Or just the same ones? – Ed]. This time it’s with the Department of Education’s major capital works framework which reportedly “aimed to deliver almost 70 new schools in four years.” [Aren’t there too many schools already – Ed] That was in 2006. A recent High Court ruling scrapping the £500million plus programme has left the Department with a reported £2.4million bill, but that is likely to rise as the Department Minister intends …

Fall-out from the polit-bureau failure

Pete Baker on February 4, 2009, 1:02 am

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Also from Stormont Live is this short opening discussion on the fall-out from the failure of the polit-bureau to agree a way forward on post-primary transfer. As Mick might mention later in this podcast, having sought a decidedly left-wing objective the Northern Ireland Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitríona Ruane, by delivering an unregulated system has, in fact, arrived at a classically right-wing/libertarian destination. Pete Baker