Sinn Féin want education system based on needs of all our children and young people - Gerry Kelly

By Gerry Kelly
One of my most enjoyable tasks as an MLA in North Belfast are visits to our local schools.
The energy and commitment of principals, teachers and other school staff to provide the very best education possible for our children is inspiring and as a public representative it’s our duty to try to build on their successes.
Despite the successes however, there remains a shocking level of underachievement and the gap between the top achievers and those failed by the system is growing. How can you build a society based on equality when after 12 years of compulsory education around 12,000 of our young people do not achieve the necessary skills in English and Maths?
There are also groups of children who are losing out more than others because of these inequalities and this is particularly relevant to North Belfast given the make-up of the area.
In working-class communities 44 per cent of Protestant males and 41 per cent of Catholic males leave school without five good GCSEs.
Young people who have a disability, or are from ethnic and Traveller communities also suffer from inequalities in education.
Sinn Féin believes it is unacceptable that 4,500 children each year leave primary schools without adequate literacy and numeracy skills.
This simply can’t be allowed to go on. The education system needs radical reform. We can’t build an economy to benefit all our people if educational opportunity is not available on an equal basis to all in the community.
Therefore we fully support Caitríona Ruane’s decision to review the provision for children with additional needs, as well as reviews of the provision for children from the Traveller community and of the growing Irish medium education sector.
This is all part of a strategy being proposed by the Sinn Féin minister to raise standards in numeracy and literacy. The next plank of that strategy to deliver an education system fit for the 21st century is the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority, the most fundamental reform of the education system here for more than a generation.
This single authority replacing nine existing organisations, will streamline administration and make more funds available for schools.
The ESA will have a remit to deliver equality and raise standards for all children, ensuring that schools have the training, support and resources to provide the best education possible.
The ESA will also be democratically accountable as the majority of its members will be made up of local councillors, working on local committees, and it will report back to the minister and the Assembly.
The establishment of the ESA is only one of a number of reforms, which Sinn Féin proposes to modernise the education system.
The outdated Transfer Test has now been taken by primary school pupils for the last time.
It is almost impossible to find anyone who thinks the Transfer Test was a good idea. So why did we subject 10-year-old children to such stress for so long?
Why was the educational future of so many dependent on two one-hour high-pressure tests?
These tests labelled children as failures and denied them access to certain schools.
This test saw 95 per cent of children from Malone Road primary schools, who sat the 11-plus, transfer to grammar schools, compared to 26 per cent from the Shankill and 22 per cent from the New Lodge. This test owed more to social selection than academic ability. This was a postcode lottery in education.
We do not need to subject 10-year-old children to selection tests to put them on an educational route that is best for them.
The vast majority of education systems around the world manage to transfer children without any form of academic selection and produce excellent results. Why can we not learn from the experiences of Europe and the Americas?
It is widely accepted that 14 is a more appropriate age to decide on educational pathways when our young people currently choose their examination subjects.
At 14 they can be matched to educational provision that best meets their needs and abilities, whether that is academic, vocational or a combination of both.
I strongly support academic excellence and want our schools delivering the highest quality opportunities for every child, from their very first day in school.
I believe the reforms proposed by the Education Minister if given a fair wind will deliver a system based on equality, which is modern, effective and responsive to the needs of all our children and young people.

Sinn Féin welcomes key recommendations of the Bill of Right's Forum report

Gerry Kelly has welcomed key recommendations of the Bill of Right's Forum report that was released this week and said he was disappointed that 10 Commissioners had dissented from the report and that the DUP and UUP were continuing to oppose a Bill of Rights.
"The Bill of Rights is a fundamental part of the Good Friday Agreement and I believe it represents an incredible opportunity to make a real and positive difference to the lives of all our people and I welcome the handover of the Human Rights Commission advice as the next stage in this long process," the North Belfast Sinn Fein MLA said.
"But to those members of the DUP and UUP who continue to oppose a Bill of Rights, I would ask them to explain to their electorate, why they reject key rights for the people that they represent.
“If implemented, a Bill of Rights would compel government to take whatever possible steps it can in order to address the economic and social problems which face our people. "This isn't about Republican rights, nationalist rights, unionist or loyalist rights - it is about rights for all."

Kelly welcomes green energy project

North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA, Gerry Kelly welcomed ‘a positive’ green development to North Belfast news that a former landfill site in North Belfast will soon be providing electricity to thousands of homes as part of a multi-million pound green energy project.
Belfast City Council is hoping the unique joint venture, the biggest landfill generating electricity scheme in the north, will be producing five million watts of electricity every single hour by next summer.
“Given the current high price of electricity and its dependency on the price of world oil and energy prices this is a welcome initiative producing electricity from what we all would consider waste,” said Gerry Kelly.
“There has been a debate about the use of the North Foreshore site and the landfill that is situated there has raised a fair amount of controversy over the years but this development now sees a positive, green contribution come from the former landfill which will benefit people locally.”

Threats to community groups are contemptible - Kelly

North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly has slammed the threats made by Continuity IRA against community groups working with statutory bodies in North Belfast.
Speaking a short while after the threats were made to Ashton Centre in the New Lodge and Wolfhill Community Centre in Ligoniel Gerry Kelly the threats are against the entire community.
"The threats are apparently in relation to the community sector in north Belfast holding multi-agency meetings in order to address pressing issues facing local people,” said Gerry Kelly.
“To have these threats made against them while they are working hard to improve the quality of life for people living in these neighbourhoods is contemptible.
“In short, these groups are now threatening the entire community. These community centres are at the heart of the localities they work in, and offer services that people of all ages and from all sections of the community use.
“They are well established and have on their premises facilities such as crèches, mother and toddler groups, after school clubs and senior citizen groups. Is there anyone who isn't on the target list?
“These threats must be lifted immediately. Those who have made them have no support whatsoever and these threats highlight what we already know, that these groups have no logical political direction or programme,” said the North Belfast MLA.
Community groups from throughout Belfast came together the Friday after the threats were issued in a show of solidarity with those threatened and in a call for the threats to be lifted.
At the meeting in the UNISON building on York Street, JJ Magee called for the immediate withdrawal of the threats.
“The Ashton was driven forward at a time when there was systematic British government denial of opportunity and resources into our community. We however did something about it,” said Magee.
“The Ashton building was financed through a community share scheme, it is owned by the community. We have struggled to access resources while also standing firm against all forms of injustice, coercion and discrimination.
“The Ashton Centre provides services right across the North Belfast community from Whitewell to Ardoyne and from New Lodge to Mount Vernon.
“Presently the Ashton Centre employs over 100 people and provides childcare places for hundreds of young children. This facilitates parents to return to work.
“Ashton also works with victims and the long-term unemployed while also providing educational pathways for thousands of people and contributes significantly to the local economy. On behalf of the Board I want to pay tribute to all our staff and all those community workers who refuse to be deflected from their services to our community at this difficult and challenging time for them and their families.
“Their courage is an inspiration to us all. The Ashton vision stands in marked contrast to the vision of the faceless people who have issued this threat,” said the Ashton Centre representative.
“Ashton will not be detracted from our mission of serving all communities. I stand here today to bring my voice and the voice of the Ashton Community Trust demanding that the Continuity IRA immediately and unconditionally withdraw this threat.”

NíSinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín and Agnes Fraser of Tar Isteach met with th Chuilín tells gas suppliers punitive rate of debt recovery is unrealistic

Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín and Agnes Fraser of Tar Isteach met with the CEO of Phoenix Gas recently to discuss concerns at high rates of debt recovery, in some cases up to £30 a week before a home gets one unit of gas.
Carál Ní Chuilín called on vulnerable people in fuel poverty not to let themselves be exploited by criminals offering to tamper with their gas supply.
“This is an extremely dangerous and lives are being put at risk with this practice,” says Carál.
Carál Ní Chuilín said that utility suppliers such as Phoenix should respond to the cuts in oil prices as many people in North Belfast are been forced to live without heat during the current cold spell.
“We are calling for gas suppliers like Phoenix to cut their bills when the oil prices fall just as quickly as they increase the bills when the oil prices rise,” said Carál.
“We welcome the pilot scheme which Phoenix have introduced to deal with those who have fallen into the trap of tampering with meters.
“However, we told Phoenix’s CEO in a recent meeting that we are concerned at the excessively high rate of recovery of the debt, in some cases people are being forced to pay up to £30 a week before their home gets even one unit of gas.
“We are extremely disappointed that our concerns were listened to but not taken into account. It is right that people should pay for the gas they have used and we would warn people that tampering with the supply is putting people and their kids’ lives at serious risk.
“But if Phoenix Gas think that this punitive rate of recovery of the money is realistic then Sinn Féin and advice workers are saying that you are forcing people into crisis upon crisis and into the hands of money lenders and unmanageable debt.”
Local advice worker Agnes Fraser said she felt that nothing had been achieved in the meeting.
“This is like something from a Dickens novel. I don’t think we achieved anything from the meeting despite making it clear that people in extreme poverty were being exploited.”
NIE have a max rate for those on benefit of £8.5 per week when recovering debt and Carál added:
“We will be raising this issue in the Assembly and it seems logical that there should be uniform regulation across all utility providers to cover these circumstances.”