Education system 'still at square one'

TWO UUP Councillors have called on the leader of Sinn Fein to take action on the Education Minister after brandishing the Province's education system as "chaotic."

Limavady UUP representatives Edwin Stevenson and Jack Rankin also criticised Caitriona Ruane after the announcement that Education and Library Boards would be radically downsized under a plan to bypass political deadlock over the creation of a new single education body.

In a joint statement the pair have said the local education system was "still at square one" and labelled children who sat entrance exams in November as "victims."

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The UUP Councillors said: "For over two years the Minister for Education has forced her ideology on our education system, steamrolling over anyone who dares to get in her way."

"The Minister's victims are every parent, teacher and child who has had to go through at least three entrance exams this autumn and winter."

"Heaped on top of this is the debacle of the proposed Education and Skills Authority. We now face further chaos as the Minister will reduce the size of the existing Education and Library Boards by half and, without any legal standing, will appoint the chairperson-designate of the ESA to performance manage the Boards and facilitate them towards convergence."

"It is all too clear that the DUP has been largely powerless when it has come to the Minister, who herself pays no attention to public opinion, media or indeed educationalists."

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"Having witnessed the first sign of dissent within Sinn Fein ranks late last year, we can only hope that Gerry Adams' New Year's resolution for 2010 will be to do something about the Minister."

A spokesperson for the Department of Education hit back at the UUP men's statement defending the Minister's "reforms" as steps to transform local eduction "for the better"

He said; "The transitional governance arrangements currently in place, announced by the Education Minister last month, will help ensure that work will continue on fully establishing the Education and Skills Authority. ESA will generate significant efficiency savings of around 20 million per year by cutting unnecessary bureaucracy, which in turn will contribute to improving the standard of education delivery to all local children.

"The Minister has said that there must be a stronger push on the preparations for ESA, the Chairperson designate will convene meetings of the chairpersons of the affected bodies. The Chief Executive designate will have a more direct role and the accounting officers in the Boards and the other affected bodies will report to the Department through him in his role as an accounting officer.

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"Alongside other reforms such as the Entitlement Framework and the ongoing implementation of Transfer 2010 by the great majority of post primary schools, these measures are helping to transform the local education landscape for the better as we enter the new decade."