A GRAMMAR school system totally free of 11-plus tests is "in sight", an influential group of head teachers has claimed.
The Catholic Principals' Association (CPA), which represents the views of about 230 Catholic schools, welcomed plans to end academic selection at two leading Co Tyrone schools.
In a joint move, Omagh Christian Brothers' Grammar School and the town's Loreto Grammar intend to stop using tests entirely by 2020.
This is being regarded as hugely significant - Omagh has a major Catholic population and is a town with a good grammar pedigree. Pleas from the Catholic Church, politicians and unions to end selection have, by and large, fallen on deaf ears. That two prestigious schools have now decided to end selection is expected to convince others to follow suit.
So far just two Catholic schools - Loreto College in Coleraine and St Patrick's Grammar in Armagh - have willingly ended selection although there is also a proposal to make Dominican College in Portstewart non-selective.
In addition, there are discussions in Enniskillen about putting an end to the 11-plus in the Catholic sector.
In Omagh. phasing would start from September 2017, with a view that the schools would have a totally non-academically selective intake by September 2020. It is understood that 25 per cent of Year 8s will be admitted by non-academic selection in 2017, increasing to 50 per cent in 2018, then to 75 per cent and 100 per cent the following two Septembers.
The CPA has long maintained that grammar schools who use entrance exams are doing serious and lasting damage to the ethos and reputation of Catholic education.
In a statement, the CPA congratulated the trustees and governors of CBS and Loreto "for showing the vision and courage necessary to bring about these changes".
"We call on all schools continuing to use tests for admission to follow the leadership shown by Omagh. Children are entitled to access high quality Catholic education at a level appropriate to their needs and abilities without the imposition of artificial hurdles being placed in their way in the form of unregulated testing at 10/11 years of age," the group said.
"In this, we support Archbishop Eamon Martin who has declared that `in this day and age no young person should be turned away from a Catholic school on the basis of their mark in an entrance test at the age of 10 or 11'.
"The movement towards a totally non-selective system of Catholic education is now in sight."
