The education minister’s plan to create a ‘non-selective grammar school’ in Craigavon is a “confused mish-mash, which enforces religious segregation in education”, according to NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Mark Brotherston.
“John O’Dowd’s proposals to merge three schools in the Catholic Maintained sector, to form a new non-selective school, have little to recommend them”, Mark stated. “Not only do they show complete disregard for the majority of parents, who want selection to be maintained in the Craigavon area, they also compound the sectarian divide in education. Sinn Féin seems to believe that one school fits all pupils when it comes to ability, while children should remain segregated on the basis of their religion. That’s completely the wrong approach.”
“NI Conservatives believe that different types of education should be equally valued. We want to see schools which offer excellent teaching and an academic emphasis and schools which offer excellent teaching with a more vocational emphasis. The key is trying to get the best out of each child and encouraging excellence in every school, rather than simply attacking the grammar sector. At the same time, there should be a constant effort to encourage pupils from different backgrounds to learn together and break down religious segregation in our education system.”
“John O’Dowd, like previous Sinn Féin education ministers, doesn’t seem to care what parents think or what’s best for children. He’s completely blinded by his loathing for grammar schools and his party’s need for the community in Northern Ireland to remain divided. That’s why the selection process had been plunged into chaos and why parents’ demands for the integrated sector to grow more quickly are being ignored. Unfortunately John O’Dowd’s attack on grammar schools around Craigavon provides more evidence that he is incapable of acting in the interests of schools and children.”