THERE has been much confusion in the past number of days over the transfer test which was due to take place this weekend, but one Fermanagh parent has said the test should go ahead on the rescheduled date. 
The parent also felt that all the uncertainty was causing undue stress for pupils.
On Tuesday morning the transfer test was cancelled, and then reinstated on Tuesday evening, and children who wish to sit the transfer test will now sit it on Saturday, February 27. 
At the time of going to press, the transfer test is still due to take place, but a debate on Education was taking place in the Assembly.
Children were due to sit three examinations across three weeks to work out the overall mark for the transfer test. Now, 10- and 11-year olds will be sitting one exam to determine whether they will go to grammar school. 
Currently, Enniskillen Royal Grammar School (ERGS) is the only grammar school in Fermanagh asking for P7 pupils to sit an entrance exam. 
Karen Jones’s son, Michael Fox, was due to sit the transfer test this weekend. She said he had been looking forward to sitting the test and was saddened when the test was postponed after putting in a lot of work over the past year. 
Speaking to the Impartial Reporter on Wednesday afternoon, she said: “I don’t know what’s going on, to be honest with you.”
Ms. Jones said her son wasn’t fazed by the change of plan. She added: “He just wants to keep going – he loves to learn, and wants to learn. If the children are willing to learn and do it, they should be able to.”
Ms. Jones said she wasn’t concerned about the number of papers being reduced.
However, she added: “I imagine there are a lot of children and parents with undue stress because of the changes in circumstances.” 
“For the kids’ sake, keep going. Not even scientists know what will happen in February, so we just need to go with the flow and what will be, will be.”
AQE had released a statement on Tuesday evening in response to its decision to continue the transfer test examinations.

Statement
The statement read: “In the absence of academic criteria, many schools would be likely to be even more oversubscribed than in a normal year, and academic performance in an assessment would be replaced by other more random criteria, such as family ties, geographical proximity to a school, or some form of lottery for places. 
“It is the view of the member schools that academic selection represents the fairest way of allocating grammar school places.”
Yesterday, there was some debate on the transfer test in the Northern Ireland Assembly sitting at Stormont. 
First Minister Arlene Foster said: “The two private companies that set the tests have made their decisions, and they made an announcement yesterday.
“We will, of course, want to see what the public health situation is at the end of these restrictions, which are in place until February 6.”
On the general topic of education, the Assembly debate got heated, and at one point there were pleas for Education Minister Peter Weir to resign from his role by former Ulster Unionist leader, Mike Nesbitt, who pleaded to Minister Weir, “In the name of God, go”.