A testing subject
Solving the transfer crisis and raising standards feature highly in the schools debate.
Virtually all education policy is devolved so MPs elected from Northern Ireland will have little influence on how its schools, colleges and universities are run. Most Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat commitments apply to Great Britain alone.
Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionists have the most influence over education, responsible for schools and post-school policy respectively, but the DUP has also been effective at stopping policies which it opposes.
DUP
The party focuses on the early years of a child’s life, to set “strong foundations” for the rest. People should be able to obtain the same childcare across the UK from a greater range of providers.
Chicago’s child-parent centres give poorer families comprehensive support when their children are young, with parents being “active and consistent participants” in their child’s education. These should be piloted in cities in Great Britain and compared to existing SureStart programmes.
Grammar school boards of governors, it contends, should be free to select children using academic criteria and the party will continue to work for a single state-run post-primary assessment.
Meanwhile, the curriculum is “excessively rigid” and schools should have more freedom to balance academic and vocational subjects. A single authority for controlled schools is mooted, as well as scrapping special rights for integrated and Irish medium ones.
Sinn Féin
Equality and excellence are the party’s two watchwords. The “radical restructuring” of education is set to continue under Sinn Féin, which pledges to extend entitlement to free school meals and cut back bureaucracy. Both education systems on Ireland should be harmonised and joined-up action is demanded to help young people not in employment, education, or training. Fees for full-time students are opposed and older people should be able to afford fees in lifelong learning.
The party states that more schools should be built on the basis of area needs and would push for improvements in the “function, quality and accessibility” of apprenticeships.
Sinn Féin also wants an all-Ireland skills strategy to ensure that skills qualifications are compatible across the island, and properly recognised in both jurisdictions.
SDLP
The SDLP seeks a “more robust focus” on attainment in science, technology, engineering and maths, adding that the progress will only be made by striving for excellence in education. Learning must be demanding to reflect the needs of the modern workforce.
On transfer, the SDLP supports the interim test plan, previously proposed by Caitríona Ruane, and will work to encourage her to change position. Rural schools will be championed, along with the campaign to keep statementing for children with special educational needs.
UCUNF
Conservatives and Unionists promise to resist Sinn Féin attempts to “destroy” the education system. They back academic selection but also want to tackle underachievement, especially in early years. Specialist schools would become more common and the ESA is opposed, due to its bureaucracy. Head teachers would instead receive more power to raise standards and discipline pupils.
Alliance
Naturally in favour of integrated schooling, Alliance recognises that the education system will have several different sectors “for the foreseeable future” and supports sharing between them. Every parent should be able to choose an integrated place for their child.
Others
The TUV “strongly supports” academic selection and parental choice, with adequate funding for non-grammar secondary schools. Greens want a fully- rounded education “not just skills for the workplace” and call for more overall funding.
