THE Stormont Executive is to make an announcement later today about this year’s school transfer tests in the North of Ireland.
First Minister Arlene Foster said on Monday night that a decision will be unveiled on Tuesday after the Stormont executive announced an extended period of remote learning for school pupils in the North of Ireland.
The Executive also plans to give its stay-at-home guidance legal force.
Schools now face being closed until the end of January and possibly into the middle of February because of the spread of the new Coronavirus variant.
The first transfer test, used by many grammar schools to select pupils, is due to take place this Saturday, January 9.
Mrs Foster said she understood the two organisations which ran the tests would be making announcements later.
“We’ll wait to hear what they have to say,” she said.
“They do of course have to abide by public health advice but they are private organisations and they will make their own announcements.”
The indecision over exams has angered parents.
Gemma Wild’s 10-year-old daughter is due to sit the transfer test this Saturday in Foyle College.
“To be told now that it could be postponed or cancelled at this late stage is very concerning,” she said.
“It’s the unknown and the lack of clarity that is the most worrying.”
Previously, parents and children attended a familiarisation day in the school, and were instructed about all safety and mitigation procedures in place.
The Derry mother said she was satisfied with the measures, and both she and her daughter wanted the examination to go ahead.
Mrs Wild has called on the executive to provide clarity to parents and children to give them both “peace of mind”.
Stormont ministers met on Monday night as other parts of the UK tightened their coronavirus restrictions.
Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said details of what they agreed would be formalised on Tuesday and that new travel restrictions would also be considered.
The health and education ministers will bring separate papers on the issues to the executive at the meeting, she added.
Ministers are then due to brief the assembly, which is being recalled on Wednesday.
Education Minister Peter Weir had previously announced a staggered return to school for pupils during the month of January.
In England, all schools and colleges will close to most pupils and switch to remote learning until the middle of February, and end-of-year exams will not take place this summer as normal.
Mrs Foster said the new restrictions for Northern Ireland were unfortunate but necessary.
She said she believed the stay-at-home message would be in place “for the rest of January, probably into February”.
“We will of course review it as we’re legally bound to do every couple of weeks,” she said.
She added that ministers would “much prefer” face-to-face education to continue but they had to “take into account the very serious situation that we find ourselves in”.
The government in the Republic of Ireland is considering a proposal to close schools for the rest of January.
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