Bloomfield seeking to retain academic selection by the back door
Sinn Féin Education Spokesperson, West Tyrone Representative Barry McElduff has
accused Kenneth Bloomfield and the Association for Quality Education of seeking
to retain academic selection by the back door and branded proposals for
Computer Adaptive Testing as unproven and experimental.
Mr
McElduff said:
"The proposals put forward by Kenneth Bloomfield
and the Association for
Quality Education represent just another rear
guard action and an attempt to
retain academic selection by the back
door.
"Computer Adaptive Testing is simply a computerised version
of the 11+.
Senior Educationalists have made it clear that this model
is both unproven
and experimental. We should not use our children as
Guinea Pigs.
"There are also serious concerns that Computer
Adaptive Testing will have a
hugely distorting impact on the curriculum
with multiple testing across P5,
P6 and P7. There is nothing to suggest
that extending academic testing
across this period will benefit our
children.
"Sinn Féin is opposed to academic selection in any
form, whether it is
school entrance exams or Computer Adaptive Testing.
"We
need an approach governing transfer that puts the best educational
interests
of the child before the interests of those who want to maintain a
system
that fails the majority of our children." ENDS