Education, again

The teachers unions are convening a meeting of primary school heads today to discuss the ongoing crisis in education. The unions like the SDLP and Sinn Fein are opposed to selection. Many hope they will use their influence to try and find a compromise which is capable of commanding cross community support.

Yesterday the SDLP accused the DUP and Sinn Fein of playing politics with selection rather then seeking a solution based on best international practice and some political compromise. In fact the party has taken out an ad in today’s Irish News highlighting its position.

The true impact of the deregulated system which the Minister has plunged this region into will not be known for several months but many teachers fear chaos in the autumn.

As a parent and someone who has an interest in effective government I simply cannot understand why more efforts are not being made to try and break this deadlock.

Some moths ago a debate started over a series of principles which might form the basis of a way forward. I have reproduced them below. What is striking about this conversation is how little desire there has been from within political unionism or SF to debate these in a serious way.

• Agreement that 14 is a better age at which to exercise pupil and parental choice about possible transfer for the final four years of education;
• Agreement to further develop thinking about a collegiate based system;
• Agreement to guarantee parents and pupils access faith based education;
  Agreement that an early intervention strategy should be developed to support children from deprived socio economic backgrounds during primary and early second level education;
• Agreement to consider and draw on international best practice when developing these proposals;
• Agreement that the system must be based on a commitment to social equity and educational excellence at every level;
• Agreement that the change programme would be rolled out over at least a five year period, allowing up to ten years for any institutional realignments to take place;
• Agreement that an interim regulated system should be introduced immediately.

Since when was the environment a sectarian issue?

Since today, that’s when!

The DUP is using an Assembly mechanism designed to ensure cross community support on sensitive issues to defeat a motion on climate change today. Yes folks, the environment is now a sectarian issue for 30 DUP MLAs who willingly signed the petition of concern which means the motion which is critical of DUP Environment Minister Sammy Wilson will be defeated because it will not enjoy the support of a majority of  unionists (i.e. the DUP).

Storm in a tea cup I hear you say. Not so I retort. The requirements for cross community voting on issues which could cause sectarian tensions is an important parliamentary procedure in a divided society. The DUP are making a mockery of this and making a joke of what is a really important issue for the vast majority of people in this region.

It all give politics a bad name. It also begs a series of questions; 

• does this party respect the views of others, and;
• will any issue on which the DUP is in a minority in the Assembly now be turned into a sectarian one?

The Bishops’ are publishing their response to the Minister for Education’s proposals to de-regulate education today.  She is reported to have rejected suggestions from the hierarchy for an interim state exam whilst this mess gets sorted out. 

Meantime children will suffer. 

But who cares as long as you are right Minister.

Mick over on Sluggerpicks up on the debate today with a couple of good links. Also Pete has uploaded yesterday’s Politics Show debate which is worth a watch.

Has the Minister asked children what they think about Education?

My post this morning got a bit of a debate going on Facebook.

Then I received a message from The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, reminding me that the office had asked that the views of children be sought on this issue.

What a good idea I thought.

Wonder if the Minister followed up on that one?

In June this year Patricia Lewsley said:

“In 2006 my office told the department our opposition to selection at 11 and urged the department to involve children in the decision making process. I have no evidence that they have done this.

“At the same time I have parents complaining about the agony of waiting for appeals to get into chosen schools, leaving their children anxious over the summer, and making those children feel that they have somehow failed.

“Proposals for a new test or an interim test will not overcome these feelings, will not reduce appeals and will put yet more pressure on parents to enter their child for tests.”

Bottom, line is that in all the years this has been discussed no-one has asked children and young people directly. They are the ones who have the most recent experience of the transfer procedure. They are the ones who any new procedure will directly affect.

As someone who knows about these things put it to me today, “While each side trots out ‘experts’ perhaps it is worth considering the expert view of those affected.”

This evening the Minister is reported to be bringing forward proposals on what will replace the 11plus to the Executive on Thursday. From the sounds of this evenings BBC radio debate it all might turn out to be much ado about nothing.

Has the power sharing brand been damaged?

Today’s Irish News piece considers the damage to the standing of power sharing as a system of government after 152 days of political stagnation.

The word on O’Conall St and on every other street for that matter is that there will be a meeting of the Executive on Thursday. It is being reported that our ministers will address the economic crisis. This is a very welcome step forward. It will, however, take months if not years however to win back the public confidence. I should point out that the article was written before yesterday’s news of a breakthrough.

Here is my full Irish News article:

How mad are you are the political impasse in our Executive?

Very mad, mad, sort of mad, don’t really care mad or not mad at all?

I’m in the “very mad” group as are very many I meet in business, the NGO sector and the media. This is not a partisan madness, it is 152 days of no government madness. I have no problem with a power sharing executive led by whichever two big parties the people choose. I don’t believe the system is broken like Jim Allister MEP does, nor do I buy into the argument which Sinn Fein appear to be making that the devolution of justice is more important then the 11plus, health policy, the global economic crisis or functioning government for that matter.

What I do believe in is government for the people and by the people. Here in the North of Ireland that means sharing power between our two communities for the benefit of both communities and those who belong to none.

It means putting people before party interest and issues before matters which should be dealt with by separate political processes. In simple terms, it means a working Executive and Assembly delivering an agreed Programme for Government and building on the common ground of bread and butter politics tackling bread and butter issues.

What has this got to do with PR? Everything. You see many of us who make a living from Public Relations do so by providing services to the private sector. We create jobs by growing our business and staying ahead of the curve. Over the past couple of years there has been considerable growth in digital communications practices as well as public affairs. The latter of which relies not just on a vibrant private sector but also on a functioning government.

Next year there will be job losses in my industry. That’s not me being pessimistic; it’s just a statement of fact. And for PR read law, accountancy, architecture, journalism or advertising for that matter. This is not a good place to be looking for a job and our political shenanigans could not send out as worse message to those thousands of graduates considering whether to stay or emigrate, not to mention potential investors.

The expectation of a functioning government is a reasonable one. Access to accountable representation is a right, not a luxury. There is another PR dimension to all this. By engaging the crudest form of party politics our leaders are themselves devaluing the reputation of politics and government.  They are presiding over a ‘brand assassination’ of power-sharing which is leaving the vast majority of our people disillusioned and disconnected from those who should be providing them with hope and opportunity at this time of need.

I want to see the devolution of justice here. For that matter I believe we should devolve taxation and broadcasting too. The closer government is to the people the better. That said, we can’t expect the public to entrust politicians with more powers when they seem incapable of sharing the authority they already have.

The Good Friday Agreement is premised on the assertion that victories are not solutions and that by working the common ground confidence can grow between our communities. It is not the institutions that are failing; the issue is the apparent unwillingness of the two big parties to share power.

As for PR. We will knuckle down and focus on delivering the very best for our clients. We have our big awards night later this month; a time to celebrate the very best in our industry. One thing I am sure of though. There will be no prizes for the political spin doctors this year.