Northern Ireland's pupils prove it - Ruane is wrong

Following today's excellent GCSE results - in which Northern Ireland again significantly out-performed England and Wales - UUP Education Spokesperson and Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea has congratulated Northern Ireland's young people, parents and teachers on their success.

Mr. McCrea said, "the stunning success of Northern Ireland's young people once again demonstrates the dangerous folly of Minister Ruane's ideological crusade against Northern Ireland's education system. Our young people have again excelled in their GCSE results. Despite significant improvements in the pass rates in the English regions, young people from Northern Ireland are still far ahead of those in the rest of the UK gaining A*-C grades. In England 65.5% of young people gained A*-C and 65% in Wales - in Northern Ireland it was a fantastic 74.5%.

"Parents across England and Wales can only look on in envy in light of such results. This is a tremendous achievement by Northern Ireland's schools, teacher, pupils and parents.

"However, it is incredibly sobering to consider that this success story is threatened by the hard-Left ideological fantasies of the Sinn Fein Education Minister. Why would an Education Minister even contemplate wrecking a schools system that so dramatically out-performs the rest of the UK?

"As I said last week when the excellent A Level results were announced, there is a challenge for the Executive and Assembly to address the unacceptable levels of educational underachievement in our society. There is a moral and economic imperative to ensure that every child has the opportunity to excel in school. That, however, will not be done by tearing down the best in our educational system.

"I warmly congratulate our young people, their parents and teachers for fantastic results that are the envy of the rest of the United Kingdom. Our education system has once again delivered for Northern Ireland."