Bishops call for 11-plus clarity

Northern Ireland's Catholic bishops have called for greater clarity and "resolution" to the debate on plans for an end to the 11-plus.

In an "end-of-term statement", the bishops said there was confusion among parents and teachers.

Fr Timothy Bartlett, the bishops' spokeman, said that the bishops thought many people were still unclear about many key elements.

"There is an atmosphere of unresolved debate," he said.

"Their key call is for everybody involved to create an atmosphere of respectful debate and commit themselves to conclude these issues for the sake of children, essentially, and also for schools, teachers and parents."

In their statement they said they had "scrupulously avoided endorsing the perspective of any political party or specific structures to replace the 11-plus".

But they said Catholic primary schools should only use testing methods that come from statutory bodies.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said they were studying the bishops' report.