Education – Page 8 – Slugger O'Toole

DENI appeal “abuse of power” ruling

Pete Baker on May 3, 2011, 2:23 pm

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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 Loreto Grammar School in Omagh was promised new premises by a previous education minister in 2004. However, this decision was reversed by Catriona Ruane. The …

Irish schools should be ‘returned’ to the State from Church…

Mick Fealty on April 23, 2011, 11:21 pm

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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 integrally Catholic – on the grounds that “the separation of religious and secular instruction into differentiated subject compartments served only to throw the whole educational …

Where is the corporation tax debate?

Brian Walker on March 27, 2011, 2:33 pm

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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 Wales. Three months to consult is practically nothing bearing in mind that the period straddles the May election, when any thinking will be at a …

Loreto Grammar School decision “an abuse of power”

Pete Baker on March 25, 2011, 1:28 pm

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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 the minister and department officials frustrated the legitimate expectation of the governors that a new Loreto Grammar School, financed by public funding, would be built …

Wot knowledge-based society?

Patrick Corrigan on March 25, 2011, 10:59 am

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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 the just-published report from the Asssembly Public Accounts Committee, which notes that the proportion of unqualified workers in Northern Ireland is the highest in the …

Unionist Pacts: yet again

Turgon on March 21, 2011, 12:59 pm

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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 suggested that unionist civility rather than unionist unity would be a good idea. Now, however, there seems to be the possibility of the opposite: unionist …

Belfast Telegraph interview Catriona Ruane

Turgon on March 19, 2011, 12:49 pm

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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”. On issue of academic selection she states: “Well, first of all, the old system has gone and one of my proudest achievements is ending the …

“Next time they might try openness and joined-up thinking”

Pete Baker on January 15, 2011, 4:37 pm

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I was somewhat blunter in my initial assessment of the Northern Ireland Executive’s spending plans, but I get the impression Patrick Murphy, in The Irish News, agrees. Their budgetary plans tell us three things – departments do not talk to each other, few of them know what a customer is and most ministers do not expect to retain their posts after the election. The information you wanted to know – details of how the cuts will affect you – will …

Bullshit, and joined-up government…

Pete Baker on January 14, 2011, 3:04 pm

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Some four weeks after the departmental allocations were agreed and all Northern Ireland Executive departments have, to a greater or lesser extent, finally published their spending plans. Don’t worry, though. There’ll be an extra week of that public consultation… Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Finance Minister, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, is complaining that the UK Treasury has “swiped” £300million of NI departments’ yearly underspend – rather than allowing it to be drawn down in the subsequent year. The NIO has issued a statement …

Breaking the deadlock over academic selection 2

Brian Walker on January 7, 2011, 5:20 pm

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Selection at 11 is frowned upon but choice would be acceptable at 14. The Times (paywall) leads with a progress report on Kenneth Baker’s plan to revive technical colleges. The potential relevance to Northern Ireland is obvious. Up to 70 technical schools teaching practical skills could be opened before the next election, according to Lord Baker of Dorking, the former Tory education secretary who is heading the scheme. The coalition has pledged to open technical schools, with links to employers, in at least 12 …

Breaking the deadlock over academic selection

Brian Walker on January 6, 2011, 12:28 pm

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In England, choice and localism in education are being encouraged by the spread of academies and ” free” schools, while Northern Ireland seems to be to heading off in other direction, through greater centralisation by the long delayed Education and Skills Authority. This seems all the more inappropriate as the Assembly is no nearer to agreeing a policy on secondary education. A bureaucratic body functioning without clear political direction is a recipe for trouble. While we can expect little sense to emerge from the parties this …

Beware hollow talk of a shared future in 2011

Brian Walker on December 31, 2010, 1:25 pm

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It’s progress of a kind that the Assembly leadership has survived the kind of sex and money scandals unimaginable a generation ago. Peter Robinson even looks stronger with one of his parliamentary legs cut off and Gerry Adams has departed with an air of confidence for fresh green pastures. Liam Clarke, never slow to offer constructive advice to government, offers cautious praise rare from a journalist. The Assembly is still more important for what it is than for what it does. …

“Good news was hard to come by in the Northern Ireland education world of 2010…”

Pete Baker on December 27, 2010, 2:17 pm

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Much like most recent years, you could say… In a review of the year for the Northern Ireland education system, the BBC’s education correspondent Maggie Taggart notes an interesting fact February saw the delivery of the first results from unregulated transfer tests which had taken the place of the eleven-plus, scrapped by the Department of Education in an attempt to end academic selection. Widespread legal action was expected from dissatisfied parents, but time passed and only two court cases were …

‘no final decision made on Loreto Grammar School’s future…’

Pete Baker on December 21, 2010, 3:15 pm

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The judicial review of the Northern Ireland Education Minister Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane’s refusal to grant funding for, Catholic grammar school, Loreto College‘ GS’s planned £14.6million new build on its existing site got underway today. As reported in September when leave for the review was granted Loreto Grammar was promised £14.6m investment through a public private partnership for a new build on its existing site in 2004 by the then direct-rule minister Barry Gardiner, as part of a major expansion …

Student finance goes nationalist in a four-way UK split. Can it last?

Brian Walker on December 16, 2010, 9:53 am

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So devolution looks like producing four different solutions to the problems of student funding, at least in the short term. The latest from Scotland is to charge strangers from the rest of UK so that young Scots can continue to enjoy a no fees regime in their native land. The money follows Welsh students anywhere in the UK, as Dewi celebrates and recommends NI follow. Iain McWhirter may be right, that the SNP may take a political trick with this …

Bad Week for Wales…..

Dewi on December 9, 2010, 2:49 pm

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We started with the PISA report on education standards throughout the world. The Pisa assessments of 15-year-olds show Wales falling further behind since the 2006 tests. Wales teenagers ranked below average, alongside the Czech Republic, in reading. Leighton Andrews called the results “unacceptable” and said everyone involved should be “alarmed”. Wales again ranked lowest of the UK countries and is now cast adrift from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Out of 67 countries taking part, Wales was ranked 38th for …

Can the DUP advance the cause of mixed schooling like this?

Brian Walker on October 28, 2010, 10:30 am

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So the DUP ” will not rest” until a single schools system is created, says Mervyn Storey He suggested four issues would require agreement: Governance — a single body representing all to encourage collaboration in planning; Policy — achieving genuine consensus rather than “whim or ideology”; Structures — meeting needs in a cost-effective way, and Choice — protecting the concept of parental choice “within an agreed framework”. The big question is – Is the DUP in any position to achieve …

“We believe this is a crude attempt to circumvent the proper and long-established channels of financial accountability within education”

Pete Baker on October 22, 2010, 4:01 pm

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The BBC notes the declared intention of the board of governors of Catholic grammar school Loreto College to end academic selection from 2012 or 2013 – you can check the most recent figures on Loreto’s academically selected intake here. By the way, how is that review going? And the BBC report quotes the Catholic Principals’ Association chair Seamus Quinn CPA chair Seamus Quinn said: “Loreto has followed the moral and spiritual guidance provided by the Commission for Catholic Education (NICCE). “Their decision is an important step …

…a long-standing focus for Catholic discontent.

John Ó Néill on October 19, 2010, 4:24 pm

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There is an element of Groundhog Day in the sudden outburst of debate on education and integration/segregation. Despite Brian’s claim that Catholic schools were fully funded in the 1970s (see point 10 in his list), that didn’t occur until November 1992 when it was announced that: In a historical deal agreed between the Catholic bishops and the Department [of Education], Catholic schools will now be entitled to 100 percent financial support for new buildings. Hitherto they had to meet 15 per cent of …

“There can be no greater endorsement of our world class skills and knowledge base…”

Pete Baker on October 19, 2010, 3:55 pm

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I’d welcome Peter Robinson’s call to end state-funding of faith-based schools if I thought he was serious about separating church and state. But he’s just as unlikely now, as he was then, to intervene whenever a supernaturalist Minister attempts to influence what’s on display in our museums, or at our World Heritage site, or in schools within the Lurgan District Council area. And what is Sinn Féin’s position on the DUP leader’s de-segregated objective? The Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s …