Education reforms are not 'right wing', insists expert

The expert who carried out a review of what is taught in Northern Ireland's schools has said the reforms are not "right-wing".

Lucy Crehan was answering questions from MLAs on Stormont's Education Committee on Wednesday.

Crehan is an independent expert who has studied the world's highest performing education systems and was appointed by the Education Minister Paul Givan in 2024 to review Northern Ireland's curriculum.

"If anything I would say it's more aligned with a left-wing view of the importance of equality, and closing the disadvantage gap," she told MLAs.

Her review was completed in June 2025 and is part of a series of reforms to education introduced by Givan.

The curriculum review recommended measures including that primary school children are taught languages other than English and more teaching about digital technology in schools.

The Sinn Féin MLA Cathy Mason asked her if she felt that the minister was "cherry-picking" evidence for his reforms on education.

Crehan replied that she did not think Givan was cherry-picking evidence and that she supported his agenda for reform.

"There is this idea that a knowledge-rich curriculum is somehow associated with right-of-centre or right-wing politics," she said.

She said that "if anything, I would say it's more aligned with a left-wing view".

But Crehan also told MLAs that, personally, she would introduce "comprehensive" schools rather than grammar schools.

The Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan said he was impressed by Crehan's work, but asked her why her review of the curriculum did not include the impact of academic selection and the transfer test on what is taught in primary schools.

In Northern Ireland, the vast majority of grammar schools use academic selection to admit pupils.

The transfer test is taken by pupils in Primary Seven but has been controversial.

"In schools here, sometimes from Primary Five onwards, children are taught to the exam rather than to the curriculum," Sheehan said.

"My personal position on selection is in the public domain," Crehan replied.

"If I was starting from scratch with an education system, I would introduce a comprehensive education system rather than a selective one."

But she said that she had been asked specifically to examine what changes should be made to the Northern Ireland curriculum.

She said changes to the curriculum "will guard against - not completely mitigate I must admit - some of the detrimental effects of that selection test on the skewing of the curriculum."

She said that, at present, what was taught in primary schools could be "driven" by the transfer test.

"But you do accept that even if there is a new curriculum it's going to be distorted by the fact that academic selection is here and apparently it's here to stay for the foreseeable future, according to this minister?" Sheehan continued.

"Yes, I think it will still have an effect," Crehan said.

There have been a number of major changes to education announced by Givan recently.

That includes changes to GCSE and A-Levels, including the scrapping of AS-Levels.

Children in Northern Ireland are also set to sit new national tests in reading, maths and science in primary school and year 10.