Government announces curriculum changes plan

Education Minister Barry Gardiner has confirmed that the Government is to implement proposals from educational advisory body, CCEA designed to tailor teaching towards preparing students for their working lives.

The proposals, which will affect both primary and post primary pupils and will require teachers to undergo retraining, are set to be introduced in 2006/7 through a gradual process.

Mr Gardiner said that the changes proposed at primary level would enable young people to see the relevance of what they are being taught. At secondary level, a slimmed-down curriculum will set out core requirements for what should be taught in schools, he added.

Welcoming today's news, Dr Alan Lennon, Chairman of CCEA, described the announcement as “being very significant for the whole of the education service in Northern Ireland”.

"This brings to an end the major phase of reviewing what is taught and assessed in our schools, a process that we’ve been conducting now for five years," Dr Lennon said. "We’re now looking forward to supporting the process of change as it takes place over the next five or six years, in close collaboration with our partners in the Education and Library Boards and the other agencies that will be involved. Most of all we look forward to working with teachers to ensure that the new arrangements benefit all of our children."

Newry and Armagh MLA and Sinn Fein spokesperson on Education, Davy Hyland, also welcomed news of new changes.

“These new proposals which will affect both primary and post primary pupils will be introduced in 2006/7 and will give teachers more flexibility to adapt their classes to meet the needs of young people," Mr Hyland said.

“The proposals for primary level will include changes in the way P1 and P2 pupils are taught, while at secondary level a scaled down curriculum will give pupils the opportunity to pursue other subjects that would be of interest to them."

It is anticipated that the reduced curriculum will help provide the flexibility required for the wider range of courses proposed in the recent Costello Report into the future of post primary education.

However, Ulster Unionist spokesman on education, Danny Kennedy accused the Minister of implementing the Costello Report on Post Primary education by stealth and "against the expressed wishes of parents in Northern Ireland".

The Newry and Armagh MLA said: "The admission by Barry Gardiner MP in a radio interview on the BBC ´Good Morning Ulster´ programme today that the new proposals on the curriculum are directly linked to the Costello Report had ´let the cat out of the bag´ and confirmed that the Direct Rule Minister was driving ahead with the plan to impose wholesale comprehensive education in the Province."

Mr Kennedy said the Minister´s comments had confirmed his suspicion that the Costello proposals were being advanced regardless of the concerns many key players in education had expressed.

(MB)