Northern Ireland

Peter Weir: This will not be ‘back to school’ as we previously knew it

Education Minister Peter Weir
Education Minister Peter Weir Education Minister Peter Weir

THE significant challenges presented by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic have been felt acutely in the education sector and I have been impressed and indebted to teachers and parents who have met those challenges for the past nine weeks and who continue to do so every day.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that the unprecedented circumstances of this global threat meant the manner of school closures in March was not perfect and to thank our key stakeholders for their understanding and support during that time.

As we moved swiftly to reduce the immediate threat to public health, opportunities to fully engage on the department's actions were limited.

Therefore, I want to assure you that as we plan for the reopening of schools, my department and I will consult and engage widely with school leaders, teaching unions, teachers, parents and the wider educational sector on the best way to proceed.

All of us accept that a return to school is critical to our children's long-term educational prospects, as well as their overall wellbeing.

However, I cannot foresee circumstances of a return to school during this academic year.

Therefore, it is my aim to see a phased reopening of schools, beginning with a limited provision for key cohort years in late August, followed by phased provision for all pupils at the beginning of September.

This will not be a ‘back to school’ as we previously knew it but rather a ‘new normal’ reflective of social distancing and involving a combination of school attendance and remote learning at home.

As we continue to plan for that return, and to work through the realities of this ‘new normal’, we are also aware that the focus of parents with children moving into Primary 7 will be Transfer 2020/21 and this key transition period in their children's school lives.

I am aware there are very genuine concerns and fears within the community on the transfer process.

I would like to make it clear that the solution encompassing the continuation of transfer tests with a range of support mechanisms in place is not the perfect answer but I believe it is the best available option at this time.

Criticism of the procedure for this year has included calls to cancel the tests and to ask primary schools to use past test material for grading, similar to the solution we have proposed for GCSEs and A-levels.

The issue with this is that the test data available to primary schools is nowhere near as robust and valid as the data available to the post-primaries grading GCSEs and A-levels: it would be dependent on two-year-old information from Primary 5 and would not include equivalent continuous assessment grading.

I don't believe that would be fair, either to primary school principals or the pupils themselves.

Another suggested option has been to move the tests to January or February 2021.

This would also create difficulties as the delay would mean pupils are unlikely to find out which school they would be attending before mid-summer, with any resulting appeals running to mid-October.

Those sort of delays would be unacceptable to me, as they would be to most parents.

As we move forward with our plans to reopen schools, and the many issues we will no doubt face, I can assure you my department and the wider education sector will continue to play a full part in the ongoing effort.