Selection being used to prevent access to places

EDUCATION Minister John O’Dowd has listed Foyle and Londonderry, Limavady Grammar, Strabane Grammar, Thornhill, Lumen Christi and St Columb’s College when asked by DUP MLA Stephen Moutray to name schools which have used academic selection in each of the last five years “to prevent young people from accessing” them.

Mr O’Dowd also listed Holy Cross College, Strabane as a “bi-lateral school admitting 35 per cent of intake using academic selection up to 2009” but which “now assesses children for entry to the grammar stream after admission.”

He listed the local schools in response to a question from the DUP MLA tabled at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He commented: “Entrance tests can present a barrier to children for reasons other than purely academic ability. The stress associated with unnecessary testing is, in itself, an obstacle to some children.

“Coaching, which appears to be widely available and may improve performance in tests, is only accessible to those families’ who can afford it, placing some young people at a disadvantage in competing for places in these schools. “This may explain the relatively low percentage of pupils in receipt of free school meals in selective schools compared to the percentage of such pupils in non-selective schools.

“It is wrong that many young people continue to be disadvantaged in this way, but I am pleased to note that some schools have moved away from academic selection within the last couple of years and would urge others to follow their lead.”