Danny Kinahan MLA, Ulster Unionist Party Education spokesperson and Deputy Chair of Stormont’s Education Committee, has said that the comments from the recent OECD report should focus minds on the flagrant political failure of Sinn Fein & the DUP to bring about a lasting solution to academic selection.

Mr Kinahan said:

“I welcome the contribution of this OECD report to the wider debate on education, especially when according to recent PISA figures, Northern Ireland has slipped significantly in some subjects. There is much we could learn from international countries and therefore reports like these should always be carefully considered.

“The OECD report is right when it states that political uncertainty surrounding selection impacts negatively upon our young people, but I believe it should not have been hesitant to criticise the failure of political leadership that has caused it.

“For instance, the final 11-plus took place in 2008, and this stemmed from the decision taken in 2002 by Martin McGuinness. In those 6 intervening years no preparatory work was undertaken and therefore the transfer system inevitably turned into organised chaos.

"What is even more unacceptable, is that 5 years after the actual abolition there is still no movement towards a permanent resolution.

“Instead, thousands of children have been sitting unregulated transfer tests, and primary schools are increasingly finding themselves in the difficult position of being trapped between meeting clear parental demand for preparing young people for the transfer test and the Department which is using increasingly draconian threats against them if they do so.

“The future of grammars and non-grammars is safe for the foreseeable future. The Minister of Education would himself acknowledge that grammar schools have, on average, well over 90% of pupils achieving five or more GCSE’s at grades A* to C, and therefore it would be ridiculous to remove a system which is currently delivering for young people.

“We also note the comments from the OECD in relation to the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority (ESA). As a Party we would support the creation of a single administrative body. However all the evidence would indicate that the ESA model that the DUP and Sinn Fein are currently try to establish would be overbearing and overly bureaucratic. The current Bill is opposed by huge numbers of schools, parents, sectors and professional bodies and therefore it was all the more surprising that the Ulster Unionist Party were the only Executive Party to formally vote against it last year.”