Parents' views sought on integrated education

The Department of Education (DE) is to ask parents in Northern Ireland if they want more integrated schools.

It will also commission a call for more schools to transform to become integrated.

That is despite a recent controversial decision by Education Minister Paul Givan to turn down bids by two schools in North Down to become integrated.

The commitments are contained in a new five-year strategy from DE for integrated education called Vision 2030. But the strategy has been criticised by an organisation representing former pupils from integrated schools.

The head of Integrated AlumNI, Dr Matthew O'Neill, said the department had "achieved so little in moving integrated education forward".

"If schools that go through the democratic process to transform can still be blocked, what does this mean for the future of the sector and whether this strategy can be fully implemented?

"We have recently seen the biggest school in Northern Ireland blocked from becoming an Integrated school, despite overwhelming parental demand.

"If political decisions can overturn parental choice, is this strategy already redundant?

"More young people should have access to these benefits that integrated education provides, and above all, parental choice must be respected and supported," he said.

The Vision 2030 strategy also said that the department expects to spend about £500m on integrated school buildings by 2030.

Part of the strategy is assessing the demand for integrated education and places in integrated schools.

It said there was a "gap" between broad support for the idea of integrated education and the availability of places in integrated schools.

To find out the level of demand from parents, the department is to survey them in April 2025 to assess "the level of societal inclination for integrated education," according to the strategy.

It said research had shown that contact between Catholics and Protestants was associated with "lower levels of prejudice and increased trust".

But the strategy said that "comprehensive evidence on demand" for integrated education was needed to enable informed decisions.

DUP MLA Peter Martin said the strategy "underpins the fact that we have a three tier education system in Northern Ireland".

He said that it places a legal duty on the department to support integrated school above maintained and Irish medium schools, with no legal duty to controlled schools.

"I think that's just very unfair," he said.

He said the document also commits over half of the department's capital spending to integrated schools.

"Why is one sector simply being prioritised in all this?"

Martin added that "everyone agrees that children of different faiths and backgrounds should be open and welcome in all schools".

He told the BBC 's Good Morning Ulster programme that his own children go to a controlled primary where they "mix with kids from different backgrounds".

"They don't have to go to an integrated school to actually experience that."

There are currently 71 integrated schools in Northern Ireland, educating about 27,000 pupils.

However only about 8% of schoolchildren in Northern Ireland go to integrated schools despite the first integrated school, Lagan College, being set up more than 40 years ago.

Overall, according to DE, about a third of pupils in integrated schools are Protestant, a third are Catholic and a third are from a non-Christian or non-religious background.

Previous analysis from the department suggested there were not enough places at integrated post-primary schools to meet demand in several areas of Northern Ireland.

"Integrated education has much to offer the school system and society as a whole," the Vision 2030 strategy said.

"We live in a society emerging from conflict," it said.

"Therefore, building a strong and shared community is a key objective for government."

It also recognised that "public understanding of integrated education could be improved" and would commission research on the public's knowledge of integrated education.

The department's strategy aims "to set out clear targets and benchmarks for the development of Integrated Education" from 2025-2030.

But a previous Department of Education (DE) strategy on integrated education was also criticised by Integrated AlumNI, who called it "an action plan with no action".

The department has a legal obligation to give more support to integrated education, since Stormont voted in favour of a new law in March 2022.

The law was the result of a bill brought by the Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong.

It means DE has to grow the number of integrated school places and the number of children being educated in them.

But earlier this year the Education Minister Paul Givan turned down a bid by Northern Ireland's largest school Bangor Academy, and a nearby primary school, to become integrated.

In doing so he cited the new law and said that there was not enough evidence that there would be enough Catholic pupils at Bangor Academy, or Rathmore Primary School, for them to provide integrated education.

But those decisions are due to face legal challenges.