26 October 2001
A review of the province's education system has suggested that the exam be scrapped within two years.
The 300-page report by the Post Primary Review Body also recommends the creation of a pupil profile to follow a child's progress and help parents choose the most suitable post-primary school, and a collegiate system for schools in 20 areas with pupils being able to move between them.
The review wants £45m to raise the standards of equipment and buildings in some schools.
The chairman of the review body, Gerry Burns, said the plan must be implemented as a whole without cherry-picking. 'It is crucial that the proposals we are unveiling today are taken as an integral package, rather than separate and free-standing components,' he said.
The review was ordered last year by Education Minister Martin McGuinness and is now open to consultation for the next six months. He said: 'This important report poses all of us with a huge challenge in relation to the need to put in place proper post-primary education.'
SDLP education spokeswoman Patricia Lewsley welcomed the proposed scrapping of the 11-plus. She said: 'We have maintained our opposition to selection on the grounds that the system is unfair.'
But Democratic Unionist Party education spokesman Sammy Wilson was critical: 'The Burns report in 11-plus terms would get a D grade.'
PFoct2001
