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Education expert pens anti-academic selection book
22 February 2010
A Northern Ireland education expert formerly responsible for the setting and marking of 11-plus tests has authored a book opposing the principle of academic selection.
In Selection Challenged, ex-head of education services for the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment Dr Alastair Walker claims he has long been opposed to academic selection.
Writing for the Belfast Telegraph, Dr Walker said assessing children aged 10 and 11 is "unacceptable in terms of the stress that is caused and the loss of self-esteem that some children suffer".
He added that it is impossible for a test to predict with any degree of certainty the future educational outcomes of children at that age.
In his book he also criticises the Executive's failure to eradicate academic selection, stating: "Permitting the chaos of unregulated selection is unacceptable even if it is viewed as a step towards a worthy goal."
A group of Northern Ireland ministers recently called on the Executive to implement a temporary transfer test until debates about the assessment are resolved.