Allister slams Ruane over education chaos

06 November 2009

Speaking at the Official Opening of the new Moorfields Primary School, Ballymena, Jim Allister QC, who is Chairman of the Board of Governors at the school, accused the Education Minister of putting her unworkable, divisive dogma above the needs and interests of children.

In the course of his remarks Mr Allister said:-

“You cannot be involved in the work of a school like this, which for generations has played an invaluable role in giving the children of the locality the best possible start in life, and not despair about the chaos and destruction brought to education by the present selfish and divisive Minister of Education.  Any Education Minister who puts her unworkable dogma before meeting the needs of parents and pupils and who eschews every attempt to attain a settled and workable transfer arrangement is someone utterly unworthy of the important office which she holds.

“It is the duty of government to provide for the needs of the sector. In a primary school one of the greatest needs is for an ordered transfer on to post-primary education and the capacity for primary teachers to help prepare children for that important step. Yet, in Northern Ireland this month in place of regulated arrangements we will have the spectacle of necessary unregulated testing, causing great anxiety across the school community.

“Meeting the needs of children and parents requires respect for parental choice, but sadly we have a Minister intent on denial of such choice and in its place imposing her own intransigent dogma. Thereby she has brought chaos where there should be order, discord where there should be discretion and bad government instead of good.

“In spite of the Minister schools such as this, through sheer dent of commitment from our excellent staff, will not fail our children, but children, teachers nor parents do not deserve to have been put in this position.”

NI politics