Northern Ireland

Joint Catholic and Protestant Church schools considered

The idea is the main Churches would come together to create a network of new 'integrated' schools
The idea is the main Churches would come together to create a network of new 'integrated' schools The idea is the main Churches would come together to create a network of new 'integrated' schools

RELIGIOUS and education leaders have met to discuss the possibility of the north's four main Churches jointly running schools.

Education minister John O'Dowd published guidance last year designed to support the establishment of new schools which would be jointly managed.

The idea is the main Churches would come together to create a network of new 'integrated' schools. The minister has hailed this as a progressive step which would complement other shared education initiatives.

While the Department of Education has a statutory duty to promote integrated schooling, much of the recent focus has been on promoting different models of shared education.

Under a jointly managed model, the Churches would come together to form a group of trustees, which would nominate governors to sit on the school board. An entirely new type of school would then be established, founded on common Christian principles. The Churches would work together in an agreed way.

However, unlike schools in the formally integrated sector, there will be no thresholds for particular religious backgrounds.

A school that transforms to integrated status must attract 30 per cent of its pupils from the minority community in its area.

With such targets not existing, there is potential for schools to be dominated by children of one faith.

Meetings in Omagh and Enniskillen this week heard from the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools and the Transferors Representative Council, which represents the main Protestant Churches.

The information sessions were organised by the Rural Centre for Shared Education to explore whether such a model could help sustain small rural schools.

Catherine Ward from the Rural Centre for Shared Education said: "This is major new model which provides an opportunity for children to be educated together that local communities may consider. It is a very interesting concept which provides an alternative approach for school communities."