A deal on transfer at 14?
Jim Allister released quotations from a document this morning which he claims the DUP has passed to Sinn Fein during their discussions on education. The relevant quote is:
"However none of these matters are sufficiently concerning to force us to feel instinctively that agreement around transfer at 14 could not be found."
"...Fourteen could become the key decision point for the future...We would be flexible about the instrument for matching pupils at 14...The vast majority of the province could move to a transfer at 14 system...However was the executive to indicate clearly that 14 was the key point for making decisions about pupils' futures and the key transfer stage, inevitably the broader system would reconfigure to accommodate that....Fourteen however would be promoted and supported as the key decision point...."
At the time of writing, my colleague Maggie Taggart is still awaiting clarification from the DUP about the status of this document. But this comes after the compromise proposals from the churches and a decidedly dove-ish tone between the two major parties both on last Sunday's "Politics Show" and during Monday's Education Question Time. So this may be one to watch...
UPDATE: The DUP's Mervyn Storey has put out a statement which doesn't confirm or deny whether the quotation is from a party document. However he says that "currently pupils transfer at age 11. The DUP is engaged in discussions on the basis that this will continue to be the case. It is for others to produce papers and ideas to convince us of the contrary. There is not the slightest indication of that happening. The DUP has been willing to listen to the arguments put forward for 14 but remain unconvinced. The idea of transfer at 14 would present huge difficulties, educationally, financially and practically."
A Sinn Fein source confirmed discussions are underway with the DUP on the transfer issue. The source added "we are not going into the nitty gritty. We don't discuss papers swopped with other parties".
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