Minister rebukes school test move

The school wants to introduce its own aptitude test

NI Education Minister Caitriona Ruane has rebuked a Catholic grammar school which plans to replace the 11-plus with its own admissions test.

Lumen Christi College and 40 primary schools in the Londonderry area were warned Ms Ruane's department will not pay for the tests or any legal action.

The education minister has written a letter to the head of Lumen Christi school and the other schools.

She hinted it would not be able to run as secure a system as the 11-plus.

The school plans to run its own entrance exam when the 11-plus is abolished this year.

In her letter, she warned that the Bishop Street grammar school would not be allowed to oblige primary schools to prepare for a new test.

She said she was "very disappointed" at the plan which, she said, was a "particularly unhelpful contribution."

Academic selection operated by schools and based on entrance tests is a prospect fraught with litigious perils Catriona Ruane Education Minister

"The board of governors should be in no doubt that the Department of Education will not fund, facilitate or in any way support a breakaway entrance test," she wrote.

"Nor will the department allow any interference with the delivery of the revised curriculum in primary schools."

Ms Ruane urged the college to reconsider its decision.

"Academic selection, independently developed and operated by schools and based on entrance tests is a prospect fraught with administrative and litigious perils," she said.

Earlier this month, a teachers' union urged the board of governors at the school to resign after it decided to introduce its own entrance examination.

The Irish National Teachers' Organisation called on the board to "do the honourable thing" and step down.

The Catholic Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, a senior trustee of the college, also criticised the move saying it did not offer an equal opportunity to all.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version