Dallat challenges education department over standards

An SDLP assembly member has described as a "scandal" conclusions contained in a leaked finance department document relating to a Public Accounts Committee finding that the education department was failing targets.

The memo was in response to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on indicators of educational performance and provision in July. In the original PAC report, chairman Billy Bell stated, amongst other findings, that the education department must do more to bring all schools up to standard.

He said: "In educational achievement, we were disturbed to find that, while many pupils are achieving extremely good literacy and numeracy standards at Key Stages 2 and 3, there were still too many schools which have substantial ground to make up before departmental targets are achieved.

"The Committee was also concerned that the Department had lost credibility by reducing its targets for literacy and numeracy at Key Stage 2 at a time when such targets are being uplifted in England and Wales. This is particularly worrying because a substantial number of school children are failing to meet minimum acceptable standards. We believe that the Department needs to establish credible and realistic targets and to stick with them".

And today assembly member Mr Dallat said the memo represented a "severe rap on the knuckles" to the department for the "grossly unsatisfactory manner in which they disregarded 20% of the population which have left school with no basic skills in literacy and numeracy".

He added: "They can no longer gloss over this scandal by constantly focusing on the top tier of pupils as a diversion from the overall picture. Hopefully the department now better understands its responsibility to enable children and young adults to make the most of their education."

In response, Education Minister Martin McGuinness said: "Literacy and numeracy are my top educational priorities and I am allocating substantial additional resources this year alone amounting to over £20 million to raising standards. But this is a long-term issue that cannot be answered by a quick fix."

(GMcG)