Ministers are to launch a campaign of “nudging and cajoling” to combat religious segregation in education in Northern Ireland, after figures revealed just 7% of schools officially offered integrated education.
The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, said he wanted to see an acceleration in the number of schools opting for integrated status, believing it was an important part of the post-conflict journey of healing.
“This was one of the factors that people set out in the Belfast Good Friday agreement [BGFA] itself. We are 23 years on and still … such a small percentage of the population is able to be part of and benefit from integrated education. I think it’s just pretty poor progress,” said Lewis.
“We are in a situation where still, people in Northern Ireland first meet a Protestant or Catholic when they go to work or university. [Segregated education] just isn’t going to ever drive full reconciliation.”
Lewis said he was taken aback by the low percentage of schools offering integrated education when he first acquired the Northern Ireland portfolio, but also by the challenges involved in changing into an official integrated institution.
His comments chime with the experience of one headteacher now waiting nine months for Stormont ministerial approval to change his school into an integrated institution. Ricky Massey, 46, took over as headteacher at Glengormley high school in 2018. It had an enrolment capacity for 1,250 pupils but numbers had fallen to 665.
“I was born and raised in the Protestant tradition in south-east Belfast and, without any exaggeration, the very first time I encountered a Catholic was when I had a part-time job at the age of 17. And I knew he was a Catholic because his name was Seamus,” said Massey. “I thought: I certainly wouldn’t want that for my children.”
The school was also predominantly Protestant (72%), not reflective of the mix in the town which is 49% Protestant and 46% Catholic, he said.
With a slight sense of despair, Massey watched from the school gates as children in a multitude of uniforms boarded buses to attend school nine miles away in Belfast. “I asked myself: why?”
This cemented his determination to change the school into “invitational to those of all faiths and none”, enabling local children to attend local schools regardless of their background.
“While segregation is in place, no matter what the reason is, it will have a negative impact upon developing peace. Young people spend most of their day in a school setting, and if they are segregated you can’t expect them to learn from one another and grow together,” he adds.
Massey has now been waiting since last summer for approval to transform the school into an integrated secondary. He is concerned that validation will not be granted before applications for secondary places close in a few days time, even though an overwhelming 71% of parents back the plan.
Since its foundation in 1921, Northern Ireland’s education system has largely consisted of state-controlled schools, mainly attended by Protestant pupils, and Catholic maintained schools, almost exclusively attended by Catholics, says the Integrated Education Fund (IEF), a not-for-profit organisation supporting integrated education.
The first planned integrated school opened its doors 41 years ago but, in the ensuing decades, only 68 integrated schools followed – out of more than 1,000 in Northern Ireland, according to the IEF.
Lewis was similarly struck by his first engagement as Northern Ireland secretary at a youth club, when he learned children did not see friends made at the club during or after school.
“That was actually quite poignant,” said Lewis. “It’s not just about the pupils. It’s also about the parents … the more time we spend together, the more time you realise the cliche is true; that we always have far more in common than ever divides us.”
Lewis is currently reviewing funding for the sector as the main plank of his three-point plan. He is also seeking to open up the “airspace” to foster debate about integrated education, whileintending to use Westminster input where he can.
“I do believe in nudging and cajoling. Education is a devolved area, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have an opinion and we don’t have a right as a co-guarantor and co-signatory of the BGFA to do all we can.”
