North's teaching unions urge politicians to strike education deal

Teaching unions in the North today made an impassioned plea for politicians to broker a deal to end the confusion over the future of education.

Representatives of five main teaching unions addressed the Assembly education committee and appealed for the political parties to reach agreement.

Education Minister Caitriona Ruane has scrapped the 11-Plus transfer test and introduced guidelines for selecting pupils for second level schools without academic testing.

But in the absence of agreement within the Executive on a formal legal framework for the way forward, grammar schools are to bring in their own independent tests.

The committee heard from General Secretary of the Ulster Teachers’ Union Avril Hall Callaghan, President of the National Association of Head Teachers David Canning, Tony Carlin of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, Mark Langhammer of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, and the NASUWT’s Seamus Searson.

They said they represented the vast majority of teachers and warned that failure to secure agreement at Stormont had placed schools under huge pressure.

Ms Hall Callaghan told the committee: “We feel even at this late stage that you as the politicians need to take control of the situation.

“And to start talking about what we can do to go forward into a regulated situation, because this deregulation is not in anyone’s interests and it is creating real problems for all our members.”

She added: “We would make a plea to you, even at this late stage, try and do something to avoid us falling into chaos come September.”

David Canning said he received calls from school heads concerned about primary pupils who now faced five exams or more depending on where they lived.

He said schools were being warned of the legal pitfalls of becoming involved in unregulated tests, while parents had meanwhile often asked that schools defy the advice and train children for testing.

Mr Searson said the unregulated tests were totally at odds with the new teaching regime introduced under the revised curriculum.

He highlighted the pressure being felt by schools and added: “We would be very keen that you should actually feel for our young children as we do and that’s our reason for coming here today.”

But as the politicians came under pressure for placing schools and children in the spotlight, the DUP’s Mervyn Storey said he was obliged to reflect the views of those who disagreed with the education minister.

Mr Storey said: “I am a parent. I have had to go through the process. And if anybody thinks that I haven’t a concern for my children, well I think that’s unfair. That’s not the case.”

Ulster Unionist Tom Elliot asked if the unions had a preferred system for transferring pupils.

The Ulster Teachers Union representative said: “Our preferred solution would be non-selective education for all children, where they elect to go through whatever route they want to go through, with informed opinion from their teachers as to which route they should be selecting.”

Mr Elliott said: “That to be fair Avril is a very unregulated system as well.”

She answered: “No it’s not and it happens in practically every other country in Europe.”

But as the unions appealed for negotiations, Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd said he did not believe such talks were on the horizon.

He said: “There is only going to be one way that we can move the matters on, that is through serious political engagement behind closed doors.”

He added: “That hasn’t happened. To the best of my knowledge they are not planned.

“And I hope, but I don’t expect it to be before the end of the summer recess. That’s just the simple reality of the situation.”

He said he hoped schools would adhere to the Education Minister’s Transfer 2010 guidelines for transferring children from primary to second level schools.

The Alliance Party’s Trevor Lunn said divisions in the committee illustrated the divisions in the wider Assembly between those who backed academic selection and those who did not.

The DUP’s Nelson McCausland said there was a wide variety of opinion within academic institutions on the way forward for education. He called for a full debate on the issue.

“What has happened up to now, there was not a debate. There was a few people who were handpicked under direct rule (to study options)... we as politicians had no part in it.

“It was just dictated to us.

“Now let’s have the debate. Let’s try and reach the consensus.”

But the Ulster Teachers’ Union spokeswoman said: “We have had that debate, we have had it at our conference for many years.”

Mr McCausland said he was among the elected representatives of the people of the North, but she responded:

“We are the elected representatives of our members.”

Both agreed debate was required and Ms Hall Callaghan repeated her appeal for the politicians to get down to talks.