Sinn Féin attacked on education

John Dallat says the party need to "face up" to the current education system which he claims has made parents "worse off".

He said: "Sinn Fein only talk to themselves alone on education, which is why they are getting it wrong all the time. They should stop all the misrepresentation and this nonsense about having abolished the 11+ - they haven't. All they have done is to privatise it in the form of multiple unregulated testing. After three years in office all Caitriona Ruane has achieved is to make things much worse for parents and children."

"Sinn Fein are well aware that the SDLP believe academic selection is educationally unsound and socially unjust and we have been opposing it ever since our formation."

The Assembly member also criticised the Education Minister and slated current Department of Education regulations on post primary transfer as "failed".

"We didn't believe selection could be abolished by a stroke of Martin McGuinness's pen on his last day in office before suspension, and we were right. We don't believe academic selection is going to disappear now by the Minister issuing regulations with no legal force which schools are entitled to ignore. "

"It was the Minister's job to find political consensus on the reform of schools transfer, and she has failed. Other parties are trying to find it now, they are making real progress, but all Sinn Fein can do is attack from their ivory tower.

Mr Dallat concluded: "We can get out of this unregulated mess if we work together, but as far as the SDLP is concerned no long-term solution will be based on any form of academic selection. Sinn Fein should work with us instead of pushing children and parents into the front line of their private war."