Background to the Research

• Fair employment legislation in NI makes discrimination in employment on the basis of religion or political opinion illegal. Since the first legislation was introduced in 1976 there have been a number of exceptions identified, including an exception for the employment of teachers in primary, secondary and grammar schools. This exception was introduced in recognition of the de facto denominational divide that operates in schools and, more particularly, the explicit recognition of the denominational character of schools under Catholic management arrangements.
• As part of the preparation for a Single Equality Bill, this study was undertaken to examine views on the teacher exception. Issues of specific interest were the abolition of the teacher exception; the retention of the teacher exception for some, but not all, educational levels; and the retention of the teacher exception for specific types of teaching posts. These issues were to be addressed in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and the recommendations arising from the Post Primary Review Body (Burns Report).
  

Research Approach

• Data were collected through interviews with individuals and organisations directly involved in education or with a specific educational interest. This included groups of student teachers.
  

Main Findings

• There was little evidence that the teacher exception, or more particularly its practical consequences, were much discussed by most educational bodies; rather it appeared to be accepted generally as one of the characteristics of the school system in NI. This also appeared to be the predominant view among teachers and student bodies.
• While there was some support for change, this was mainly confined to teacher trade unions and was a minority perspective. Most of the churches were in favour of retaining the teacher exception, particularly the Catholic Church, and others who were prepared to consider possibilities for change were, in the main, resigned to retention. Most seemed to conclude that, if separate denominational schools were permitted on the basis of parental choice, then the school authorities should be able to recruit same-religion teachers to work in the schools in order to maintain denominational ethos. Furthermore, it was argued that if this condition was to be permitted for Catholic schools then the same conditions should apply to state, or de facto, Protestant, schools. In this respect, it was noteworthy that while many of the respondents did not have particularly strong views on the recommendations of the Post Primary Review Body, some did express a degree of concern at the possible dilution of schools' ethos if they became involved in collaborative arrangements with other schools.
• Views on the possibility of a partial change (through limiting the exception to primary teachers or to religious education teachers only) were closely linked to views on the overall merits of the issue. Thus, while there was a general view that an argument for the maintenance of the teacher exception might be particularly strong in relation to primary schools teachers (since they are involved in a significant level of preparation for religious rituals), opponents of change tended to favour no change of any kind, while the strongest advocates of change also preferred that any change be universal.
• There was widespread acceptance of a 'chill factor' in applications for teaching posts, that is, a reluctance for Catholics to apply for posts in non-Catholic schools, and a reluctance for Protestants to apply for posts in Catholic schools. However, views differed on its significance: speakers for the Catholic system tended to see this as an inevitable, even appropriate, consequence of separate schools. By contrast, others tended to see the 'chill' as having the greatest affect on Protestants and thereby creating an imbalance in employment opportunities.
• In relation to the 'chill factor', none of the employing authorities indicated that they applied religious tests directly in recruitment decisions for post-primary schools. Representatives of the Catholic and Protestant authorities did indicate that they used indirect factors as part of their recruitment decisions and that these were normally related to such issues as asking candidates how they could contribute to the ethos of a school, or through giving weight to particular references on character. Thus, while there are constraints on the employment of teachers of a different religious denomination, including 'chill factors', there is no bar on employment. In addition, it is likely that these constraints from employers and potential candidates operate across most schools, although probably to a slightly higher extent in Catholic schools.
• It was widely accepted across the interests interviewed for this study that any change to the teacher exception would have consequences for all schools and not just Catholic schools.

Conclusions

• Overall, little evidence was found of widespread support for change in the teacher exception arrangements, whether partially or in full. This reluctance to support change is held in varying degrees by different groups: the authorities of Catholic schools see the teacher exception as fundamental to the maintenance of separate schools, while many others seem more resigned to it as an inevitable consequence of separate schooling. While a number of different interests accepted that the changed circumstances following the Good Friday Agreement raised some question to the teacher exception, in the main they were reluctant to embrace significant change at this time. Interestingly, most interviewees agreed that schools should reflect the diversity of NI, but understood this to mean different things.