Allister comments on Protestant under-achievement in education
01 June 2011
Commenting from Stormont on the issue of disparity in educational achievement by pupils from disadvantaged Protestant backgrounds, TUV Leader Jim Allister said he shared the discomfort and disappointment which the figures threw up.
“This is a failure of government which devolution has not addressed. The prime responsibility rests on the Sinn Fein controlled Department of Education. Yet, there has been studious avoidance of addressing the issue.
“Apart from empty jargon about having ‘a jigsaw of interconnected policies’ no devolved minister has done anything. The Department of Education has even dragged its feet on a literacy & numeracy strategy. Yet, there is plenty of money for the pet projects of Irish medium education and money to squander on dual language publications.
“On the other hand there is no focus, no interest in the educational deficit in working class Protestant areas. Instead, it is used as a perverted and distorted platform from which to attack selection.
“I hear many platitudes from the Department and Boards, but in actions I see something quite different. For example, the closure of Ballee PS removed not just a local school from the heart of a disadvantaged area, but also robed the area of a focal point for community activity, including the opportunity for adult education.
“For government to blindly do that and then professes surprise that such areas are not achieving is hypocrisy of the worse kind.”
