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''Decommissioning of them-and-us mindsets needed'

A better working relationship between unions, employers and government will reap benefits for young people, the INTO conference heard.

In his annual address, INTO northern secretary Gerry Murphy called for more collaboration between all involved in education. Politicians also needed to set aside their differences for the good of children, delegates were told. This would bring about improved salaries and conditions for teachers that better reflected their contribution to society. "The future challenges everyone. It challenges many parents of our young people to become more engaged in their education and others to reject the outdated myth that because a school has the word 'grammar' in its title it is superior to a school that does not," he said. "It challenges our dysfunctional political administration as a whole to set aside narrow sectarian interest for the greater good."

Mr Murphy added that partnership on the scale and in the detail he was advocating went way beyond simply being civil to one another across a table. "It will require cultural shifts within our various organisations and the decommissioning of the 'them and us' mindsets across the board," he said.