Written evidence from Foyle and Londonderry
College
I am writing on behalf of the Governors and
Parents of Foyle and Londonderry College, a Voluntary Grammar
School in Northern Ireland, to appeal to you as Chairman of the
Northern Ireland Select Committee of the House of Commons, to
review the educational policies being pursued by the Government
in the Province. In making this appeal, we feel that we have exhausted
all other options to have the Government accept that its current
policies for Education in Northern Ireland are being implemented,
despite the clear wishes of the majority of the people of Northern
Ireland. In the matter of our children's education we feel that
the Government has no right to over-rule the wishes of the people,
expressed in overwhelming numbers in the Household Response Consultation.
The massive response to this consultation shows the strength of
feeling among the population at large, and it can be summarised
in two main points. First, that the present Transfer Test is in
need of reform, but secondly, and most clearly, that a system
of selection should be retained at the age of 11 for those pupils
entering post primary education.
By ignoring this clearly expressed opinion,
successive Secretaries of State and those Ministers responsible
for Education in the Province have embarked on a series of measures
which will have far reaching consequences for an education system
which is valued by the people of Northern Ireland, perhaps to
greater extent that anywhere else in the United Kingdom. By refusing
to accept any of the criticisms of their future arrangements from
bodies such as the Governors of Foyle and Londonderry College,
and our collective representations as part of the Governing Bodies'
Association, Ministers have generated a profound feeling of anger
that a policy of comprehensivisation of schools is being pursued
in Northern Ireland, while we have daily reports from elsewhere
in the United Kingdom demonstrating that the Government is disenchanted
with the outcome of such reform already implemented in England.
Northern Ireland enjoys examination results
higher than those in England, staying on rates higher than those
of English pupils and a greater level of access for disadvantaged
pupils to Higher Education than elsewhere. While we would accept
that the system is not perfect, and we would share an aspiration
that the least well off pupils should be encouraged to take advantage
of the high quality education available to them, we do not accept
that there is any potential for such improvements in the proposals
being implemented at present.
We understand that legislation will be required
to enforce these widely unpopular measures. Given that we have
no outlet to express our views through locally elected representatives
at present, it cannot be just that Ministers who are not answerable
to the electorate of Northern Ireland should impose a system of
education which will affect generations of children, in the face
of such opposition. It is an abuse of Parliamentary procedure
if such measures are not debated on the floor of the House and
given proper scrutiny, using the mechanisms available to members.
The Government of the day must not be allowed to impose measures
on one part of the United Kingdom that it could not implement
elsewhere. It is clear that the high-handed behaviour of Ministers
in the Northern Ireland Office is prompted by the knowledge that
they are not answerable at the ballot box for their actions. It
is for this reason that we appeal to you, and your committee,
to call ministers and officials to account before irretrievable
damage is done to education in Northern Ireland.
W J Magill
Headmaster
14 October 2005
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