voluntary entrance exams into Berkeley Institute or Warwick Academy should have community input. While welcoming the proposal, which if accepted will mean the abolition of the controversial 11-plus exam, NLP member Ms Cheryl Pooley said: "I don't think it is the most ideal situation''.

Ms Pooley said the proposal, which came from a committee of teachers, principals and education officers and gives parents the choice of having their children sit two entrance exams designed separately by Berkeley Institute and Warwick Academy or attend the nearest secondary school, is an alternative until major education reforms are implemented.

Ms Pooley said education officers, teachers and parents must be involved in drafting the entrance exams for Berkeley and Warwick. "They are aided schools,'' she said, "and because of this there is some responsibility to the public. In light of this education officers, teachers, PTAs and board of governors of those two schools should come together to draft the best exam criteria paper for the educational well being of our children.''