TWO leading Catholic grammar schools in Co Tyrone are seeking to scrap plans to fully phase out academic selection.
Omagh Christian Brothers' Grammar School for boys and the all-girls Loreto Grammar had agreed to end the use of academic selection by 2020.
This had been regarded as a major coup in the Catholic Church's drive to end transfer tests.
A `development proposal', approved in 2016 by former minister Peter Weir, should have seen the proportion of Year 8 pupils admitted via academic selection fall annually from 75 per cent, to 50, then 25 and 0 by 2020.
But selection has not yet been fully eliminated and in recent weeks both schools have submitted fresh proposals seeking to keep using entrance tests.
Omagh CBS said it had not been possible to proceed with the 2016 plan because of a combination of "a series of unintended outcomes and the impact of Covid-19".
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Academic selection was suspended for two years at several schools which caused some difficulties.
Omagh CBS said that upon applying 25 per cent non-selective criteria, it had reflected on its experiences. This resulted in it bringing forward a proposal to maintain 25 per cent non-academic selection. It now wants to use selection to determine 75 per cent.
If given the go ahead, the move could come into effect from September 2023.
Loreto Grammar has also requested to "use academic selection criteria to determine 50 per cent of its pupil intake into Year 8 with the remaining 50 per cent of pupils to be admitted through non-academic criteria with effect from 1 September 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter".
Both schools have submitted lengthy pre-publication consultation documents to the Education Authority explaining their reasons to adapt their academic selection criteria.
Omagh CBS' document states that "the acceptance of the 75 per cent academic intake is in line with the statement by the Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland on the future of academic selection from 21 June 2012.
"In that document the Catholic Bishops requested that 'all Catholic Grammar schools operate a policy of admitting no more than 75 per cent of pupils on the basis of academic selection no later than September 2014'.
"The Christian Brothers School in Omagh have complied with that request and have been admitting 25 per cent of the admission of pupils into Year 8 using non-academic criteria since September 2016.
"The board of governors believe that to move further towards the full removal of academic selection would have a hugely significant detrimental impact on the school’s educational provision. The board of governors have paid close attention to this matter since the school had moved to 25 per cent, and in monitoring its impact and early findings."
In its development proposal, Loreto says the "challenges of non-selective intake in September 2021 during the pandemic" had led the school to move to 50 per cent academic selection for entry in September 2022 "in the interests of stability, fairness, equality of opportunity and choice for all".
It states "as the only Catholic Girls’ Grammar School in Omagh, retaining 50 per cent academic selection for admission to Year 8 ensures that girls from all denominations are afforded opportunity and choice for their preferred option of a faith-based grammar education in Omagh".
