Education 'must meet challenges'

Peter Hain faced down widespread opposition to education reforms

A thorough review of NI's education system is to be led by a former Queen's University vice chancellor, Secretary of State Peter Hain has announced.

He said Sir George Bain will examine how it is organised and paid for.

Mr Hain told business leaders in Belfast that academic selection would end and there would be specialist schools and a new curriculum.

He said the current education system was "not good enough to overcome the challenges of the future".

Mr Hain outlined five steps which he said would "make our education system world-class".

• The end of transfer tests;
• The rolling out of specialist schools;
• The introduction of a new curriculum;
• The transformation of schools into community centres, open from 8am to 6pm;
• A commitment to the non-school sector, including apprenticeships.

Mr Hain told the joint forum of the CBI and Irish Business and Employers Confederation that there was "justifiable pride in Northern Ireland's education system and its achievements".

"But the reality is that no matter how well it has served us in the past, it is not good enough to overcome the challenges of the future.

Mr Hain addressed business leaders at Queen's University

"That is a lesson which I believe the Republic of Ireland learned early and which has provided a bed-rock for its economic achievement in recent years.

"The commitment to a broadly-based education system, with strong vocational strands, with a strong commitment to excellence in apprenticeships was a key basis for the Celtic Tiger.

"That is a strong lesson which we need to learn from to address the education and skills challenge facing us in Northern Ireland."

Mr Hain said the reforms "ought to be judged on common-sense principles - not dogma, prejudice or educational theories, traditional or modern".

In many ways the Northern Ireland education system mirrors the structure and indeed the weakness of the Northern Ireland economy Peter Hain Northern Ireland secretary

He said Northern Ireland did not just need an "elite of the best, but an entire workforce of the best, able to compete anywhere in the world".

The last 11-plus transfer test is scheduled to be held in 2008, and the end to academic selection has faced widespread opposition.

Mr Hain said the transfer tests were "universally disliked" and it was wrong to segregate children into two categories at the age of 10.

"It is economically damaging but, far more important, it is damaging to those children who are condemned at that tender age as failures, destroying aspiration and limiting opportunities for the individual and for society," he said.

Mr Hain said "a mainly academic route will remain available for those who wish to follow it" but specialist vocational schools were being introduced as "there can no longer simply be the old focus on the grammars alone, however good they are".

"In many ways the Northern Ireland education system mirrors the structure and indeed the weakness of the Northern Ireland economy. It has too strong an emphasis on the professions and the public sector," he added.

Last week, campaigners for integrated education questioned the government's commitment when funding applications for four new schools were turned down.

However, Mr Hain said the review would "look at how we best meet our duty to encourage and facilitate integrated education, which is a vital building block towards creating the conditions necessary for long-term peace and stability in Northern Ireland".