Integrated Education in Northern Ireland: The Progress and Obstacles
By Claire Dickson
An integrated education poll taken as recently as 2021 found that 71 per cent of people in Northern Ireland believe children from different community backgrounds should be educated together. In April 2022 the Northern Ireland Assembly passed the Integrated Education Act which made it obligatory for the Northern Ireland Department of Education to “encourage, facilitate and support” integrated education. Added to this in July of the same year, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced additional funding of £1.9 million to aid schools that wanted to have integrated status. With this legislative action having come to the fore recently, I asked a range of stakeholders about their thoughts on the importance of integrated education in a post-conflict province such as Northern Ireland.
Sophia Armstrong is in her own words ‘a child of integrated education’ and believes that educating children belonging to different religions in one classroom is an integral part of how Northern Ireland can continue to emerge as a post-conflict society.
‘I come from a mixed household where my mother is Catholic, and my father is Protestant and they wanted me to grow up having knowledge of both faiths, as well as other faiths. Integrated education enabled me to do my sacraments as well as being educated in my own religion and culture but also being exposed to different cultures that were in the classroom with me. I think that integrated education has helped Northern Ireland make huge advancements in the peace process.’
An important aspect of integrated education in a deeply-divided society for Armstrong is its marking of difference as positive rather than something that separates different groups.
‘I believe integrated education teaches us about our differences whether it be religion, culture, ethnicity or abilities – we were given a safe environment where we could talk about differences.’
Armstrong is hopeful that once the Stormont Executive returns, integrated education legislation will get off the ground.
‘We have seen huge developments in terms of the Integrated Education Act. All we need now is for Stormont to be back so it can be implemented effectively.’
One way she feels integrated education could be improved though is by ensuring integrated schools are all of a secular nature. ‘All schools in Northern Ireland have to have a Christian ethos. This means in assemblies Christian prayers are said. But integrated education truly is the future of Northern Ireland and I will advocate for it until my final breath.’
Recent graduate in Liberal Arts Abby Davidson attended a controlled Grammar School that was integrated by nature but didn’t have integrated status. In her view, integration in Northern Irish schools will happen naturally based on area demographic.
‘I don’t think attitudes within my school would have been improved based on whether or not the school had official integrated status. To be honest, because it didn’t have the integrated label I think that would have made Catholic families more comfortable with sending their children there. I am pro schools which don’t have integrated status working towards natural integration. In some communities they need to place emphasis on that to encourage people to engage with it.’
Davidson has mixed feelings regarding how much diversity she encountered at school.
‘With regards to different groupings within Christianity, I definitely did encounter plenty of diversity. However, with regards to other religions I didn’t encounter much. But that’s to do with the demographics present in the area as opposed to anything else.’
‘There’s definitely an argument that all schools need to be integrated but I don’t think we need integrated labelling necessarily to be able to do that.’
Graham Brownlow is a lecturer in Economics at QUB with specialist knowledge on the subject of integrated education in Northern Ireland. In his view class is an issue closely entwined with the provision of integrated education.
‘Of course higher housing cost means that the ability to afford houses close by integrated schools determines access, if this is the case then we might expect that working class parents might be less able to access some of these schools.’
And so I decided to ask two school principals who have first-hand experience of the controlled and maintained sectors of education about whether or not they feel integrated education is a must-have for Northern Ireland in its post-conflict state.
‘Nobody can argue against educating children together – the problem is how you structure that. One of the issues is that lots of people don’t live in areas where housing is integrated and so in trying to implement integrated education you are doing it against the backdrop of segregated housing.’
Both cited the religious element of schooling in Northern Ireland as a barrier to how integrated education would work in practice.
‘Maintained schools are closely linked with the Catholic Church and that ethos would be lost if schools were to have integrated status. Organised religion doesn’t therefore allow for schools to be fully integrated.’
They had concerns over recent integrated education legislation as they feel if integrated schools are prioritised or end up with higher levels of funding, it might impact the other two sectors.
‘Integrated schools as things currently stand generally exist in more middle-class areas where they draw from middle-class integrated areas of housing. If those areas are prioritised, you could end up with middle-class areas being prioritised over more working-class areas.’
Integrated education is a concept enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement which included a clause aimed at facilitating and encouraging integrated education. But the complexities of a deeply-divided society with parts of that Agreement not fully implemented means there are a range of views on what integrated education looks like in practice/logistically whilst as of 2023 70 grant-aided integrated schools exist out of a possible 976. Time will tell if an up-and-running Executive at Stormont will engage with the issue or be able to smooth out logistical barriers to integrated education.
For more information about integrated education in Northern Ireland there are a number of websites you can have a look at:
Department of Education: Integrated schools | Department of Education (education-ni.gov.uk)
Integrated Education Fund NI: Integrated Education Fund | NICVA
Integrated Education Legislation: Integrated Education Bill (niassembly.gov.uk)
Claire Dickson is Head of the Scoop and a 3rd year Politics student at QUB.