Education Authority asking Northern Ireland teachers if they loyalist or republican
The Equality Commission is to offer advice to the Education Authority after it was revealed it is asking teachers whether they are loyalist or republicans - or have left or right wing politics.
The news comes after the News Letter was contacted about an online survey the EA is asking teachers to complete when applying for jobs.
The Education Authority (EA) said the survey is fully compliant with equality legislation and Equality Commission (EC) guidance - but insists teachers are not compelled to disclose the information.
The EC said employers "may" carry out such "non-mandatory" surveys - but should be clear about the purpose of doing so – and said it would contact the EA to provide advice.
The EA survey asks teachers if they are;-
- Broadly unionist,
- Broadly nationalist,
- Broadly loyalist,
- Broadly republican,
- Broadly left,
- Broadly centre,
- Broadly right,
- No fixed opinion,
- Prefer not to say
Commenting, an Equality Commission (EC) spokeswoman said that fair employment legislation requires employers to monitor the community composition (and sex) of those applying to fill vacancies ie Protestant, Catholic or neither.
An EC spokeswoman said: "In addition to the mandatory monitoring of community background and sex under fair employment legislation, employers may also carry out monitoring across other equality categories.”
"The Commission's Equality Monitoring Guide provides advice on monitoring these non-mandatory categories for employment purposes and emphasises that employers should be clear about the purpose for collecting and using such information.
"The Commission will contact the Education Authority to provide advice on this matter. Fair employment legislation prohibits discrimination in employment on the ground of political opinion."
A spokeswoman for the Education Authority (EA) responded that it has a statutory obligation to monitor the political opinion of applicants.
The EA is required, she said, to collect Equal Opportunities monitoring data under the Fair Employment and Treatment Order 1998, Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, and Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) guidance.
“EA has a statutory obligation to request that applicants and staff, including teachers, provide their equal opportunities monitoring information when applying to any job in EA and when employed by EA,” she said.
"As part of this statutory obligation, Equal Opportunities monitoring data includes political opinion as a protected characteristic.
“Applicants/employees are not, however, obliged to provide it and, to that end, have the option to state ‘prefer not to say’ if they do not wish to disclose their political opinion.”
The information is anonymous and only used for statutory reporting purposes, she added.
The EA said that the EC recognises "there are many dimensions of political opinion beyond nationalism and unionism" and that gathering the information is necessary to promote "equality of opportunity, fair participation and good relations in our employment practices and wider service provision".
However, a TUV spokeswoman compared the approach to breaching the privacy of the election voting booth.
TUV Equality Spokesperson Ann McClure said: "What individuals do in the privacy of the polling booth is a matter for them alone, and no one should feel under pressure to reveal their political views in order to apply for a job.
“The Education Authority may attempt to justify this practice by pointing to equality monitoring requirements, but that does not explain why applicants should be asked such penetrating and invasive questions.
Other employers meet their statutory monitoring obligations without doing so, she said.
“Teachers should be appointed on their qualifications and ability — not their political opinions. The EA needs to urgently review this practice."