Integrated education campaigners have lost their way, Paul Givan says
Campaigners for integrated education in Northern Ireland have “lost their way”, Education Minister Paul Givan has said.
The minister said the law around schools seeking integrated education status is that they are likely to have “reasonable numbers” of Protestant and Roman Catholic children and that “requirement cannot simply be disregarded”.
Mr Givan has published a position paper on integrated education to provide legal clarity following recent court rulings.
Integrated schools aim to mix pupils from Protestant, Catholic and other backgrounds.
Last year Mr Givan turned down applications by two schools in Bangor to transform to integrated status.
A legal challenge against his decision brought by parents failed when a High Court judge found there was not enough evidence that both schools would be able to increase the representation of Catholic pupils to reach reasonable numbers.
In June, the Court of Appeal upheld that ruling.
In his position paper, Mr Givan said the requirement for reasonable numbers of pupils from both traditions is a “core element” of integrated education and a statutory requirement.
He said: “The reality is that many schools seeking to transform face significant challenges in demonstrating how they will achieve and sustain meaningful representation from both communities.
“In many cases, demographic factors and historic patterns of enrolment make this a difficult hurdle to overcome.”
In a written statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Givan said that 19 schools transformed to integrated status from 1991-2016.
He said: “In 12 of the 19, the majority community outnumbers the minority community by at least 2:1.
“Of these, seven outnumber by more than 3:1, 10 of the 19 have fewer than 20% of the minority religion at the school.
“Three schools that have transformed – all more than seven years ago – have fewer than five pupils from the minority community”.
Mr Givan added: “While there is a mandatory requirement for ‘reasonable numbers’, the data demonstrates that often this has not been achieved even for schools which transformed many years ago.”
Launching a new Integrated Education Support Programme, the minister said he was “shifting the focus towards supporting schools to build integration before formal transformation takes place”.
He said his department would also revise arrangements for gathering information used to assess community background.
He also said that to date the “overwhelming majority” of transformations to integrated status have come from schools in the controlled sector, “very few” Catholic maintained schools have entered the process and “only one has completed it”.
In his statement, the minister said he remained “fully committed” to supporting integrated education.
He said: “The law requires schools seeking integrated status to demonstrate that they are likely to provide integrated education, including ‘reasonable numbers’ of Protestant and Roman Catholic children.
“That requirement cannot simply be disregarded.
“Equally, where schools are committed to broadening participation and strengthening integration, they should be supported to do so.
“Looking ahead, there is an opportunity to refocus the debate on outcomes rather than labels, on substance rather than process and on genuine integration rather than designation alone.
“In recent years it is hard to avoid the conclusion that those campaigning for integrated education have lost their way – failing to deliver schools which meet the legal requirements and often making implausible claims regarding the likelihood of achieving ‘reasonable numbers’.
“This is the time to rediscover the original intent of this laudable movement.”