Seven in 10 Irish News readers believe academic selection should be done away with, according to a poll.
New research from Queen’s University Belfast found academic selection "disadvantages the already most disadvantaged".
The QUB paper found that academic selection "perpetuates middle-class advantage and limits potential for the development of a more integrative and inclusive education system".
We asked Irish News readers for their thoughts on the current selection process which determines whether children attend a grammar or secondary school and 377 votes were cast. 69% voted for it to end while 25% wanted the practice to continue and five per cent felt academic selection should not end yet.
Among the responses we received from readers were "make every school comprehensive" (Kelly Keenan from Glengormley) while Seamus from Belfast said: "Our schools are socially exclusive, concentrating the affluent into a sub set of secondary schools that claim some mythical, unique, 'academic' ethos".
Ed McCann from Bangor believes selection should be scrapped because it "perpetuates inequality and has a hugely negative impact on our children". He said the system should be replaced with "a fully inclusive and integrated system".
The latest poll can be found on our homepage - irishnews.com
