Back to school: the new year’s policy priorities

The main education spokesmen put forward their priorities for 2010-2011. More stalemate over selection is likely but finance, community relations and improving standards will also feature highly.

Alliance

Trevor Lunn MLA

It’s absolutely imperative that we focus on education in the coming months. There are a number of extremely important issues that need to be addressed as soon as possible.

We need to proceed with the creation of the Education and Skills Authority. The formation of this body is vital in order to improve efficiency in our education system, and given the current pressures on public spending this issue is all the more important.

There also needs to be progress on resolving the 11-plus issue. Parents, children and teachers need clarity and political agreement must be found across all parties to address this most difficult of issues.

We also need to see fears over cuts in community relations projects in schools addressed. These projects are extremely important in assisting us to move forward as a united community and the Minister must put in place a strong strategy on community relations.

There is a need for politicians and those who control the main education sectors to accept that co-operation is essential and that difficult decisions must be faced.

The sectors, particularly the maintained, must realise that they cannot take far reaching decisions in isolation and the ultimate goal is for our children to be educated together. This requires vision from politicians, church leaders and educationalists alike.

DUP

Mervyn Storey MLA

The DUP’s over-riding objective in education is ensuring the best possible outcomes. We are keen to make progress with streamlining administrative structures but all sectors must be treated equitably and individual schools should have maximum autonomy.

We will conduct further work around the extra obstacles some teachers encounter in securing employment in certain sectors.

The financial climate will influence all our work and we will devote a lot of time to spending plans. We want to see a greater focus on the early stages of education, and more focussed outcomes from investment in programmes such as extended schools and youth services. We demand a radical overhaul of the Minister’s proposals for special needs education.

There are still difficulties around transfer, particularly due to multiple tests being demanded by different schools. Everyone now recognises that academic selection has been secured but the DUP will continue working to deliver a single robust form of assessment under the auspices of the department for matching pupils to their most appropriate post-primary school.

SDLP

Dominic Bradley MLA

We are heading into a new school year with serious challenges across much of the educational system and deficient political mechanisms for dealing with them.

The latest new-build announcements, while welcome, are a mere patch on a small part of our crumbling schools estate.

Post-primary transfer is in an unregulated mess and going nowhere, yet Minister Caitríona Ruane has set her face against the sensible compromise approach put forward by the educationalist panel agreed after cross-party talks.

Corresponding DUP intransigence is blocking progress on reorganisation of educational administration in the Education and Skills Authority.

There has been no serious discussion of any of these problems at Executive level and education barely got a mention in the Hillsborough Accord.

We cannot afford another year of stalemate. It is the Minister’s job to secure political backing for reform and she has completely failed to do so. If she adopts a sensible approach to solving these problems, she will have the support of the SDLP.

Sinn Féin

John O’Dowd MLA

Sinn Féin’s priority is to continue to build an education system based on equality. Such a system will embrace and enhance the ability of all our young people regardless of class, colour or creed. We need an education system which meets the needs of a 21st century economy, such a system cannot be built by repeating the mistakes of the past.

Over the next year will continue to lobby for more money for new school builds and for maintenance to existing schools. The extent of the cuts being imposed by the British Government will become more evident in the months ahead. It is imperative that the Executive as a whole resist cuts to frontline services in areas such as education.

The way out of recession is by rebuilding your economy. To do that we need a workforce educated across the spectrum of academic, vocational and life skills.

UUP

Basil McCrea MLA

The education system in Northern Ireland is entering into a crucial period. We have a significant number of serious and persistent problems that are being played out in a backdrop of severe spending cuts. This in many respects is a ‘perfect storm’ scenario that demands leadership and a clear sense of direction.

Next year, the top priority for all political parties in Northern Ireland must be to establish a consensual vision for our education system and then to create implementable plans in order to achieve that vision. At present no vision or consensus exists and we are continuing with an ad hoc approach by the Minister and a disparate approach from some sectors.

This is not helped by an Education Minister who seems to prefer chaos over consensus. The Ulster Unionist Party wants meaningful engagement from Caitríona Ruane in order to overcome the numerous impasses that have built up.

The Minister must work towards building agreement. The stakes are now too high for continued intransigence on any side. The Ulster Unionist Party is ready and willing to engage.

Our top priorities for next year are:

• addressing the current state of the education and library boards;
• creating a regulated transfer system based on academic criteria;
• a transparent and decisive plan to deal with inevitable and significant spending reductions;
• development of long-term and short-term planning on the rationalisation of the school estate; and
• tackling educational underachievement by developing a more targeted approach and improving literacy and numeracy standards. This will require a significantly improved early years strategy.