GRAMMAR schools that suspended 11-plus style exams for one year do not need to go through the onerous `development proposal' process.
A dozen schools, most of them Catholic grammars, cancelled entrance assessments due to take place this winter.
There had been concerns that they may have had to reverse the decisions.
However, Peter Weir has confirmed that they are free to drop the exams which P7 pupils are due to sit in January.
In a letter, Mr Weir said he made the decision due to the difficult circumstances in which schools are operating.
He added that he also considered the fact that the change would only be in place for one year.
The assembly education committee first raised the issue of development proposals (DPs). These are needed before any significant change can be made by a school.
Without the green light from the minister, schools would be acting unlawfully if they made changes without going through the process.
It typically runs for several months and involves a public consultation before a proposal is approved or rejected.
Unregulated grammar school tests are due to run on four consecutive weekends in January.
Any late u-turn would have caused a furious reaction from parents and schools.
Several schools announced in May and June that they would suspend academic selection for one year only. They will instead use non-academic admissions criteria.
The Department of Education only began considering whether DPs were needed last month.
Mr Weir confirmed that no formal proposal was needed "due to the temporary nature of your decision as this is restricted to one year only and taking account of the current difficult circumstances that schools are operating in, created by the Covid-19 pandemic and the potential impact on the children who will be applying to attend your schools".
"However, should your school decide to make the removal of academic selection a permanent change a development proposal would then be required," he added.
A small number of grammars, including St Patrick's Armagh and Loreto College in Coleraine, that have permanently ended academic selection were all made complete the process.
INTO northern committee chairperson Caroline McCarthy said common sense would dictate the abandonment of the tests.
"The significant escalation that we are facing in Covid-19 cases being currently experienced is leading to sporadic school closures, whole classes and year groups being sent home to self-isolate, isolating bubbles, and personal or family illness," she said.
"It is against this background that 10 and 11-year-old children are being expected to prepare for what will be the first of several high stakes examinations over the course of their school career.
"This projected uncertainty does not afford the children in P7 the security they need and most importantly equality of opportunity."
