EDUCATION WEEK
A MULTI-MILLION investment in shared education has been welcomed by one of the north's most senior academics.
Of the £58.45m announced by the first and deputy first minister to deliver a range of initiatives as part of the Delivering Social Change programme, £25m over four years has been allocated to shared education. The funding is designed to increase the level of sharing that takes place among schools and to help embed and normalise the practice of sharing in education.
All schools will be eligible to apply for assistance and the process will be managed by education and library boards. Since 2006, about 15,000 pupils from more than 130 schools have engaged in sustained and structured contact through the Sharing Education Programme, which has been led by the School of Education at Queen's. "The shared commitment of Queen's University and The Atlantic Philanthropies to overcome the division created by our current separate education system has resulted in this sea-change in educational policy," said Queen's vice-chancellor Professor Patrick Johnston. "The educational, economic and societal benefits of this continuing initiative have been ground-breaking. "We are proud to celebrate the enlightened leadership and philanthropy of Chuck Feeney and this unique partnership between The Atlantic Philanthropies and Queen's."