Integrated Education

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

The Integrated Education movement in Northern Ireland is an attempt to bring together children, parents and teachers from both Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions, the aim being to provide a balanced education, while allowing the opportunity to understand and respect all cultural and religious backgrounds. The Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE), a voluntary organisation, promotes, develops and supports Integrated Education in Northern Ireland.

Education in Northern Ireland is highly religiously segregated, with 95% of pupils attending either a maintained (Catholic) school or a controlled school (mostly Protestant,but open to all faiths and none), both effectively funded by the state. Teaching a balanced view of some subjects (especially history) is difficult in these conditions.^{[citation needed]}

The first integrated school, Lagan College, was established in Belfast in 1981 by the campaigning parent group All Children Together. In 1985 three more integrated schools opened in Belfast offering parents in the city an alternative to the existing segregated schools.

There are currently 58 Integrated Schools comprising 19 Integrated Second Level Colleges, and 39 Integrated Primary Schools. In addition there are 19 Integrated Nursery Schools, most of which are linked to primary schools.

Initially such schools met with considerable opposition from certain local politicians who were angry at an alleged favouritism in funding being shown to them by the Government. They felt the state controlled school system should be regarded as the true model of integration and that only the existence of maintained schools preserved a culture of segregation in Northern Ireland. However, every integrated school in Northern Ireland is heavily over-subscribed.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• List of Integrated Schools in Northern Ireland

[edit] External links

• Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education
• Conflict Archive on the INternet - Education in Northern Ireland

v • d • e Education in Northern Ireland Departments Department of Education (Primary and Secondary education) · Department for Employment and Learning (Higher and Further education) Boards Belfast · North Eastern · South Eastern · Southern · Western Universities Queen's University Belfast · University of Ulster · Open University List of Schools Primary · Secondary · Grammar · Integrated schools See also 11+ exam · Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment · Grammar Schools · Integrated Education