Northern Ireland: not usually a place you’d contemplate emulating. But when it comes to education it’s a very different story, or rather it was.
When England and Wales embraced the failed idea of comprehensive education (which should be called comprehensively rubbish education) Northern Ireland retained a system of academic selection at the age of 11, with those passing the test going to grammar schools and those failing going to high schools. As a result children in education received an education much better tailored to their needs and as a result performed better than their counterparts on the mainland.
Typically though politicians on the Left railed against academic selection on the grounds that it’s elitist, providing a superior education to those who pass and a substandard education to those who fail. Ironically though their conception of superiority has been based entirely on the rigour of the academic program provided by individual schools, rather than the suitability of the education program offered by the schools to the children they serve.
Sadly though it seems the debate has been all but lost by those who value an education system that’s responsive to the needs of those it serves. The education minister in Northern Ireland, Caitríona Ruane, has won the battle to abolish the 11 plus and force children of all abilities into the same classroom; preventing all but a lucky few from reaching their full potential.
After stiff opposition from grammar schools Ruane may propose the adoption of a system of limited academic selection, allowing grammar schools to take a proportion of their students through academic screening (at most 50% and declining over time). Let’s hope the grammar schools will however stand their ground and do as they have threatened; introduce their own system of academic selection.
For the grammar schools do anything else would consign Northern Ireland’s education system to the scrap heap.
Posted by Chris paul on May 15th, 2008 at 12:36 pm:
No comments? Here’s one. Do you have any proof of how good secondary moderns have been for the 11-plus “failures”?
Obviously selective schools do quite well, having the bright kids and all that. But on value added many are crappy crammers and even then under perform.
And do you actually know anything about comps? They are universally setted and if they are EVER allowed a realistic test they do well. But usually there are GS and indie schools and faith selection and single sex etc.
Clearly it makes sense for English and Maths and so on to be taught in academically fairly homogenous groups. But why should social issues and pastoral care be segregated? Answer me do.
Secondary moderns and indeed comp plus private can fail the lowest 30%, proper comps .g. in Finland do not. Their results overall are MUCH BETTER.
Now there was me thinking irish results are quite good just because of how bright we all are.