by Emma Shaw
Since the passing of the Integrated Education Bill last week there has been an outpouring on social media platforms with varying opinions. The purpose of this short piece is to outline a few of the most prominent arguments that are circulating at the moment and share helpful information so that people can make their own informed decisions.
Firstly, a point that has been overlooked in the current discussions is the definition of integrated education. The bill does not just mean Protestant and Catholic pupils being taught together; it also incorporates pupils from different socio-economic status and those of different abilities to be taught together. This enables pupils to better understand each other and the different backgrounds and cultures in Northern Ireland.
Secondly, let’s talk about school finance. School budgets are allocated per pupil enrolled at the school, and the school will receive some additional monies depending on their Free School Meal banding on a per pupil basis. This is the main source of funding for schools. There may be a few other strands for specific projects or items, but to provide a basic overview of the school budget, that’s it. Integrated schools are not allocated any additional monies, though they can apply for grants when transitioning to integrated status from The Integrated Education Fund. A grant of up to £2,500 is available for schools to explore if transformation is right for them, and if transformation is approved, an additional grant of up to £15,000 is available to support marketing. The Dept of Education may also provide some further funding for specific purposes like providing training opportunities for staff, parents and governors, substitute cover or to provide additional resources. However, all of these must be supported by a business case, presented to the Dept of Education annually and can only be submitted for up to five years after transformation.
Thirdly, let’s highlight some of the language used in the bill and determine what it means. The bill calls for a statutory duty to “encourage, facilitate and support integrated education”. What’s the significance? The bill requires the Education Authority and the Dept of Education to monitor and consider integrated education when developing area planning and other strategic considerations. It also requires the Dept of Education to create an integrated education strategy and publish a report on integrated education. This report must include demand for integrated education as well as any success or failures regarding the provision of integrated education. One of the obligations outlined in the bill also notes that the Dept of Education must create provisions for planning and development, including housing development (p7) regarding integrated education. Basically, any housing being developed or redeveloped must consider integrated education at the planning stage.
Whether you do or you do not support the new integrated education bill, it is important to point out that no school can go through the transformation process without the support of its parents. Transformation can be started in two ways: either the Board of Governors decides it would like to consider it and consults with parents, or parents can petition the Board of Governors to hold a ballot. For the ballot initiative to be successful at least 50% of parents must vote and more than 51% of parents in the vote must support transformation.
Now that we’ve established some facts, let’s discuss. I’d like to point out at this stage I believe our young people should be educated together. We supposedly live in a post conflict society and if we want a continued peace we can’t have an us versus them mentality. Pupils learning in a shared environment helps with understanding our different backgrounds and what we have in common. I would like to see increased data available for researchers examining school choice and school finance in Northern Ireland. This bill creates some data points to understand the desire for integrated education which, in my opinion, is helpful. In East Belfast, Lagan College is always oversubscribed, with supporters arguing this is because it is integrated. However, we also need to consider that Orangefield and Lisnasharragh schools were both closed, while Knockbreda and Newtownbreda merged to create Breda Academy, therefore there is less school choice in East Belfast. Lagan College also has a unique school model in that they offer a grammar school stream as well as an all ability stream. As a researcher, I’m curious about which of these elements leads to Lagan being oversubscribed. Is it simply a desire for integrated education in the area, or the unique model? Without conducting an in depth survey and analysis of parents, any answer here is merely speculation.
We have an extremely segregated education system in Northern Ireland. Not only do we segregate by religion, but we also segregate by academic ability, and our current model is outdated and wasteful of resources. As a society we argue that we want a world class education system for our children and grandchildren but fight against any transformations, while pupils from low income backgrounds continue to underperform compared to their more affluent peers. There is currently an education review underway. While I await their recommendations, we know we’ve been here before. We cannot continue to waste financial resources on a segregated education system. This will make for some difficult and challenging conversations about what a reformed education system might look like.
A current feature of our education system is that parents can choose to send their children to whatever school they want, even if that school is miles away. This policy of school choice has mixed ramifications for local areas. Using the example of East Belfast and Lagan College again, pupils come from miles away to attend Lagan, meaning that children who live in the area where Lagan is their closest school have to travel outside of their area to attend school. My concern with the new integrated education bill is that as schools try to manage a 40/40/20 ratio for student demographics to ensure an integrated split, local children will be required to travel a further distance from their home to attend school. This puts additional pressures not only on school transport systems but also on parents who may not have access to cars or rely on public transport. I acknowledge that in the bill there are no specified quotas. It simply states there should be reasonable numbers of Protestant and Roman Catholic children, as well as those who do not identify as either.
I’d like to finish on this point: if you are a parent please become informed about the process, there may come a time where you are asked for your input, it is important to have your voice heard by using your vote.
