A SENIOR Catholic bishop has warned that the current “impasse” over education reform in the North is “causing great uncertainty for all”.
Dr Donal McKeown, auxiliary bishop of Down and Connor told a conference on Catholic education in Belfast last night that many involved in Catholic education provision would face a predicament “in the case of there being a scandalous political failure to provide a regulated system of transfer” from primary to second level.
Education Minister Caitríona Ruane has emphasised that the controversial 11-plus schools transfer tests are to be abolished.
Addressing its replacement Bishop McKeown said: “It is vital that schools do not allow the understandable anxiety to be exploited so that schools might appear to act only in their own interest or merely in the interest of certain already strong schools.
Speaking at Catholic Schools Week in St Mary’s University College in Belfast last night, he said all schools are “affected by the uncertainty”.
He warned: “It is vital that all Catholic schools act together to cope with potential uncertainty and a continuing demographic downturn.
“It is not part of the Catholic or Christian vision that the weakest should suffer excessively and feel that their needs are being overlooked.
“Our schools are very generous when it comes to helping the less fortunate in developing countries. It would be a travesty of our vision if that level of compassion and solidarity were not to be evident as regards the other school round the corner.”
Referring to the need for reconciliation between communities in Northern Ireland, the bishop continued: “There are huge gaps in our society, across the perceived denominational divides, across cultural differences and across the widening social divides.
“Reconciliation means crossing all of those barriers, not just some of them. Thus Catholic schools are very keen to be involved in all sorts of partnerships. We are working closely with the other Christian churches to safeguard the future of faith-based education in this society.”
Because of “our shared vision”, all parties in Catholic education – along with many other partners – were in agreement that the old 11-plus system had to go, Bishop McKeown said.
“We cannot justify dividing young people at 11 into separate and impervious silos, those that call themselves academic and those that are classified as vocational.
“There are more than two groups of young people in the world, the intellectuals and the artisans,” Bishop McKeown said.
“Thus we are all working to move beyond the current system of rigid selection at 11 in the interests of all young people.”
Catholic means universal, he added.