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Churches make transfer test call Churches make transfer test call
(about 2 hours later)
Unregulated testing by grammar schools is unacceptable to the majority of the community, Northern Ireland's three main Protestant churches have said. A temporary 11-plus examination should be sat by primary sevens this autumn, according to the three main Protestant churches in Northern Ireland.
The churches said they were intensely disappointed at the lack of political progress on the transfer system. The final 11-plus post-primary school transfer test was held last November.
The Presbyterian, Church of Ireland and Methodist churches have been trying to thrash out a compromise agreement for the transfer of primary six pupils. The churches warned unregulated testing by grammar schools was unacceptable to most people in Northern Ireland.
They have suggested a temporary official test should be set. The Department of Education said that the minister wanted "a non-selective and inclusive process", not one that "identifies children as failures".
Education Minister Caitríona Ruane has consistently ruled out an official test. Education representatives for the Methodist, Church of Ireland and Presbyterian churches said in a statement that the current uncertainty "represents a failure in good governance".
The final 11-plus was held in Northern Ireland schools last November. The Reverend Trevor Gribben of the Presbyterian Church said he believed their views represented a "huge unease" felt by many.
Many Catholic grammar schools have announced they will set independent tests, while more than 30 state schools say they will continue to use academic selection against Ms Ruane's wishes. "It's amongst principals, governors and teachers in primary schools, who are being put under huge pressure," he said.
The Catholic Church is to reveal its thinking on the post-primary transfer system next week. 'Potential chaos'
"It's unease amongst parents of year six pupils and the pupils themselves, who do not want the potential chaos of an unregulated system.
"People who are setting tests are trying their very best to get rid of that confusion, but nonetheless it exists.
"Government have a responsibility to do something about it and we are calling, even at this late stage, on the minister of education to sit down with the political parties to try and find interim agreed arrangements for transfer."
The final 11-plus was held in Northern Ireland schools last November, and the way in which children currently in primary six will transfer to second-level education remains unclear.
Many Catholic grammar schools have announced they will set independent tests, while more than 30 state schools say they will continue to use academic selection against Education Minister Caitríona Ruane's wishes.
The Catholic Church, which administers schools in the Catholic education sector, is to reveal its thinking on the post-primary transfer system next week.