Opinion

Chris Donnelly: A second lockdown in the autumn could sound the death knell for academic selection

Chris Donnelly

Chris Donnelly

Chris is a political commentator with a keen eye for sport. He is principal of a Belfast primary school.

Most classrooms in the north's schools are empty since social distancing was introduced due to the coronavirus crisis
Most classrooms in the north's schools are empty since social distancing was introduced due to the coronavirus crisis Most classrooms in the north's schools are empty since social distancing was introduced due to the coronavirus crisis

The education minister’s recent statement announcing that schools in the north of Ireland would remain closed until the start of the new term in late August was a welcome step.

In Britain, the Tory press have now turned on teachers, doing the bidding for a Conservative government desperate to spread the blame for a crisis authored by a prime minister who has confirmed the accuracy of the truism elect a clown and expect a circus.

By August, there will be a wealth of evidence regarding the potential impact of reopening schools on the spread of the virus from other regions which will either provide us with the necessary reassurance or precipitate a re-evaluation of whether that step can be taken.

READ MORE: Tom Kelly: Archbishop Eamon Martin wrong to muddy selection waters #PremiumOpens in new window ]

Last week, Archbishop Eamon Martin and Bishop Donal McKeown entered the on-going discussion over the issue of post-primary transfer for the forthcoming year with separate letters outlining the case for grammar schools moving away from academic selection due to the coronavirus crisis. The contribution from the bishops does not come as a surprise as they have consistently held to the position that academic selection is outdated and inherently unfair. On this issue, the weight of evidence is overwhelmingly on their side.

As a society we should long ago have managed to move away from academic selection at age 11 as the means by which the composition of our post-primary schools is determined. Objective evidence illustrates how other societies have managed to develop fairer education systems which don’t rely on academic selection and which deliver better educational outcomes, including in the rest of Ireland. The figures are clear: far fewer children leave the non-selective education system in the Republic with no qualifications and a higher percentage also move on to third level Higher Education institutions.

None of that is new. We have for long known that academic selection creates a two-tier education system, with the overwhelming majority of children from poorer backgrounds, with learning difficulties and with social, emotional and behavioural problems being shuffled into the non-grammar sector. It is in these schools that we find the heavy lifters of our education system, those dedicated to working with the most vulnerable, most academically challenged and from the most difficult backgrounds to give them the same chances in life they are entitled to as those with whom they shared classrooms for seven years in primary schools which always managed the trick of educating children from a range of academic abilities which, in any event, are not set in stone at age 11.

The absence of political agreement on this issue has meant that school leaders and teachers, regardless of personal attitudes towards the existence of selection at age 11, feel compelled to ensure that the children in their care are prepared to the best of their ability ahead of taking these tests every year.

The unprecedented challenges we face in education due to coronavirus have already led to the cancellation of GCSE and A Level exams, to be replaced with grades determined largely by teacher projections informed by pupil performance.

Chris Donnelly
Chris Donnelly Chris Donnelly

There has been a suggestion that this provides an answer to the developing dilemma of transfer at Primary 7 amidst a backdrop of growing parental anxiety over the prospect of children sitting tests in November and December having already missed months of classroom-based education and facing the prospect of a blended learning approach continuing into the new term.

In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Tasking primary school teachers with the job of using their own subjective judgment to determine the post-primary schools for children would not alleviate the concerns and anxieties of parents and children and would put primary school teachers in an impossible position. Teacher projections would be a disaster, deeply unfair on all involved and also based on evidence that would not be deemed safe by any standard.

The reality of assessment in a primary school is that data is produced through a school’s own assessment arrangements exclusively to suit the needs of each specific school. There is no consistency between the manner in which tests are timetabled, invigilated nor evaluated across any two schools, and the idea that such data would be used for the purpose of separating children within and across the entire primary school cohort in Northern Ireland is simply absurd.

Both grammar schools and the education minister, an avowed supporter of academic selection, understand this, which is why they have tried to ameliorate the situation by agreeing to postpone the tests for a period of weeks. That may yet suffice to ensure academic selection survives this crisis, but it is becoming increasingly clear that a second lockdown in the autumn will almost certainly sound the death knell for academic selection for this cycle, and perhaps for good.