Improvements in Educational Standards must continue – Ruane

Education Minister, Caitríona Ruane, has said that improvements in educational standards must continue while the administration of education goes on.

The Minister was speaking at an event to mark the achievements of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools over the past two decades. The Minister said: “CCMS has made a substantial contribution over the years to raising educational standards in maintained schools. Credit for this is due not only to the professionalism of teachers, principals and other school-based staff, but also those leading CCMS itself, particularly Chairperson Bishop John McAreavey, Chief Executive Donal Flanagan and Deputy Chief Executive Jim Clarke. A key remit of the Education and Skills Authority will be to ensure that standards in all schools are raised on the basis of equality.

“Too many young people, around 11,000, are leaving full-time education every year without the basic qualifications that they need in today’s world. And we have far too wide a gap in achievement between our most disadvantaged and our most affluent pupils. This is unacceptable and something I am committed to addressing through our Every School a Good School policy statement.  The system some schools use of selecting pupils promotes inequality and I welcome the Catholic Bishops opposition to academic selection.

“My statement to the Assembly set out the steps I am taking before ESA is established to ensure that the delivery of educational services for children and young people continues. We need to ensure the momentum towards ESA is not lost and that is why I have put transitional arrangements in place.

“The new arrangements will impact on all the bodies of the Department and I will expect all organisations to co-operate with them. They are intended to provide a strong focus on the convergence activities across organisations so we can reduce bureaucracy and ensure a successful transition. I remain hopeful that the delay we face in implementing ESA can be kept to a minimum.”

Notes to editors:

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