A PETITION signed by hundreds of parents opposed to a plan to end single sex Catholic secondary schooling is to be sent to the education minister.
Parents are fighting plans to close and merge schools as part of a massive shake-up of Catholic education in north Belfast.
Two girls' schools and two boys' schools are involved in one of the largest re-organisations ever undertaken in the north. Grammar schools in the area will play no part, however, and will remain single sex.
Teachers and parents are concerned about numerous aspects of the plan, which, if approved, will mean children can only win places at single sex schools in the Catholic sector if they sit the 11-plus.
The proposals involve four non-grammar schools - Little Flower and Mercy for girls and St Patrick's, Bearnageeha and Edmund Rice College for boys. Two other Catholic schools have been shut down in the area in recent years - St Gemma's and St Gabriel's in Ardoyne.
Both Little Flower and Bearnageeha will be "discontinued" with a view to facilitating the establishment of a new Catholic 11-19 co-educational post-primary school. The new school, which is likely to operate across a split site initially, will have an enrolment number of 1,300 including 325 sixth form places.
Edmund Rice and Mercy Colleges will both expand and become co-educational.
The period for objections ended last month and more than 1,600 parents signed a petition opposing the Little Flower and Bearnageeha part of the plan.
The petition said the right to choose a Catholic, single-sex education for children was being removed, "unless we use the unregulated testing system or avail of buses to schools in other parts of the city".
Research had proven that co-ed schools could have an adverse impact on the learning of girls at ages 11-14, it added.
North Belfast assembly member Alban Maginness yesterday presented the petition in the assembly to speaker Mitchel McLaughlin. It will now be sent to minister John O'Dowd and the education committee.
Mr Maginness pointed out that single sex schooling was being retained in the grammar and state-controlled sector.
"This petition is a spontaneous and genuine expression by concerned parents, particularly at Little Flower. They believe that they should be given the option of a single sex secondary school and indeed a single sex boys school," Mr Maginness said.
"For girls in particular, it is advantageous to have single sex schools. Little Flower has an excellent performance and excellent inspection reports. If it ain't broke, why fix it?"
Mr O'Dowd is expected to make a decision on the proposals by the spring.
