Posted on 12/08/2006 11:21:06 AM PST by Murtyo
A watchdog committee at Westminster has said the Goverment isn`t tackling the underperformance of Protestant pupils urgently enough.
The committee has sent the Department of Education an end of term report.
It grades the department on what it has done to lift exam results in loyalist areas.
The verdict: could do a lot better.
GCSE Maths: Appalling performance; literacy and numeracy: progress manifestly unsatisfactory.
In fact the latter criticism applies across Northern Ireland. The Public Accounts Committe reports that one in five pupils leaves school here without being able to read and write properly.
But though concerned with the broad question of educational under achievement in Northern Ireland, it is the plight of pupils in deprived Protestant areas of Belfast that most worries MPs.
Research shows that children in loyalist areas of the city do much worse in GCSE exams than their counterparts in nationalist districts.
Looking at schools in deprived areas the MPs found that while 24% of Catholics got at least a C grade in Maths, only four per cent of Protestants managed the same score.
Similarly while 29% of Catholics got at least a C grade in English, only 17% of Protestants achieved the same mark.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) doesn`t believe the Department of Education is tackling the problem of underperformance with enough urgency.
The PAC was not convinced by the explanations of officials who said paramilitarism and peer pressure was to blame for underachievement in loyalist areas.
It is waiiting to hear from the Department on how it plans to improve exam performance in deprived Protestant districts of Belfast.
When you look at exam results generally in Northern Ireland it`s remarkable how similarly Catholics and Protestants perform.
Not so in Belfast`s deprived areas where Protestants underachieve.
It`s claimed change is underway, if so it needs to be accelarated.
That would account for the difference.
I think all education is funded by the state in Northern Ireland, but the Catholics go to Church run schools, while Protestants tent to go to State run schools. Maybe that accounts for it. They are pretty wide disparities.
probably the white racists causing all the problems.
As a graduate of nun-run Catholic schools in Wisconsin, I'm a firm believe in the drill-and-repeat method of teaching so disdained by todays educrats. Not everyone who came out of a parochial school developed into a genius, but the great majority knew the basics or the three r's. Actually in those days so did most graduates of American public schools. Here's a toast to the old tried and true methods. Which would still work if tried. Throw all the utopian educrats into a deep hole, and cover it up.
Susan McKay wrote a book on northern protestantism a few years back. In it, David Ervine spoke about the appalling standard of education in loyalist areas, particularly Belfast. Apparently the position to which most of the kids aspired was "ex-political prisoner"! This was before the splits and assassinations that led to the death of the likes of John "Grug" Gregg and the exile of Johnny Adair, so maybe these guys are not as glorified any more.
That's all the paramilitaries want - the ghettoisation of Ulster, another side affect of the GFA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.