THE new head of a body for integrated education has said Stormont must do more to meet demand, and how a summer of racial tension in Belfast has made shared learning more important than ever.
Taking over from Roisin Marshall as CEO for the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE), Sean Pettis said his focus is on making sure Stormont delivers on their commitment to promote the sector.
As of September, Northern Ireland has 73 integrated schools with just under 30,000 young people – around 8% of the school population.
This has doubled since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, but NICIE has said this has largely been because of action from parents and schools rather than any strategy or planning from government.
In 2022, the Integrated Education Act was passed with a requirement for the Executive to publish a strategy to “encourage and facilitate” shared education.
Mr Pettis calls this a “game-changer” as it creates an obligation to translate parental demand into actual school places, with the strategy due before the Education Minister Paul Givan shortly.
“The big thing is about how we meet the demand. There’s a number of schools that are oversubscribed, so we want to look at how we make integrated a realistic choice for every family that want it for their child,” he said.
“That isn’t the case at the moment. We have over subscription at some schools in areas where there’s no provision.”
He said work was ongoing with the department to make sure that demand is measured in a “realistic” way.
During the summer, the Irish President Michael D Higgins was among those voicing their frustration at the persistently low numbers in shared education despite a recent poll stating that two-thirds of people in Northern Ireland supported it.
He said this was especially important in working-class areas where paramilitaries were still active.
“Segregation only fosters hostility and harms vulnerable, disillusioned young people who can be misled by violent actors within their communities who hold significant powers of influence,” the President said.
Mr Pettis said that simple headcounts did not show the full picture.
“One of the things about integrated education, it’s the first kind of movement in the world that was started by parents,” he said.
“Would I like it to be higher, of course I would. But given that every school was started by parents or a parental ballot, I think the growth is pretty remarkable.
“Since 2019, I think we’ve had about 28 successful ballots where a school has opted to transform.”
While confident that the political will was there along with the legislation, he said stretched resources remained a major obstacle.
Brought up in the “peace building and reconciliation movement,” Mr Pettis’ own parents were members of the Corrymeela community.
He would later join the staff for 10 years, helping schools to explore Northern Ireland’s “controversial and difficult history”.
For parents and schools working towards an integrated status, he adds: “A lot of the time it’s about finding your ‘why?’ What is it you believe that becoming an integrated school would give your children, your community, your staff.”
“We don’t have numerical targets as such, we just want it to be an accessible option for every family.
“No matter where you live, we want parents to have that choice.”
Anti-Bias Wednesdays@FacingHistoryUK will host a session on responding to recent rioting and unrest.
— NI Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) (@niciebelfast) August 21, 2024
It will reflect on how this unrest has "(fostered) divisions and (made) individuals feel unsafe in the place they call home".
Register here:https://t.co/0kXv1RxeOo pic.twitter.com/rOvo0lCoy5
After the recent spike of racist attacks in Belfast and other areas, he said that including multiple backgrounds in classrooms was a vital element.
“The foundations of integrated education were around the two main traditions, but there has always been a recognition that some children and families don’t fit those labels,” he said.
“We’re seeing that more and more, the category of ‘other’ if you like increasing. So integrated schools are absolutely places where young people from different religions and backgrounds should be welcomed and honoured, in a school where they feel they belong.”
He adds: “There’s also children from economically deprived areas as well as middle class kids.
“It’s religion, culture, background and ability all in one school.
“For young children coming through integrated education, it’s about the ability to explore who they are, who others are.
“To develop skills in conflict resolution, these are all things they can take with them throughout all their lives as well as a high-quality education.”
