Mr Moutray said the backing of the board is vital with Education Minister Caitriona Ruane intent on removing all forms of academic selection in Northern Ireland.

"The Dickson Plan is perfect for this area and keeps adapting to natural change that suits local schools, and we are determined to keep it that way. We believe the board's chief executive Mrs Helen McClenaghan is a supporter of the plan and we want the backing of the entire board," said Mr Moutray.

Mrs Ruane has done away with the 11-plus all over Northern Ireland - although the controversial examination has not applied to Craigavon since the introduction of Dickson for almost 40 years, with selection at 14.

The latest proposal from Stormont is for selection at 14 for a maximum period of three years and then what amounts to comprehensive education.
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"It's a plan that few want, especially the grammar schools, with 31 stating they will come up with their own version of the 11-plus," said Mr Moutray.

He added that he and Mr Simpson had both been through the Dickson Plan, as had their children, and that the streaming of the junior high schools followed by selection at 14 to the senior highs - either Portadown College or Craigavon Senior High School in the case of Portadown - were ideal for the area.

"Staff, parents and pupils are all involved in the selection process and it is evolving into an election process," said Mr Moutray. "Portadown College accommodates the so-called academic subjects while Craigavon High School is for vocation courses and more technical subjects, It suits the area admirably."

This is mirrored by staff. Mrs Deborah O'Hare, head teacher of Portadown College, said: "It's a community system with the full backing of the community, and the two senior highs see ourselves as one entity."
And Mr Trevor Canning, headmaster of Clounagh Junior High, commented: "There is an appeals system within the selection system and there hasn't been an appeal for years."

Mr Moutray added: "We are setting up a further meeting with Education Committee chairman Sammy Wilson to further protect the plan and he is fully behind us.

"We're campaigning for a plan that suits our area, while other plans suit other areas. To try an impose a monolithic education system all over Northern Ireland would be madness."