Background to the Research

• Officially, schools in NI have been non-denominational since the establishment of the state in 1921, in practice the school system is segregated along religious lines. This makes the school system one of the most powerful vehicles for sectarianism in a society dominated by violence. Attainment levels in the province are polarised, with a minority of high achievers gaining the best A Level results in the UK co-existing with the largest proportion of school leavers with low attainment in GB. Despite these factors, public confidence in the school system is high among the general public and the majority of parents are resolutely in favour of selection.
  

Research Approach

• The contention underpinning this book is that the segregated system and the retention of selection cannot be explained solely in terms of religion. Policy and practice must be understood against the backdrop of the role that schools play in the protection and promotion of the two communities' traditions, cultures and identities.
• The author explores these issues through the use of literature reviews and a series of semi-structured in-depth interviews with civil servants, Chief Executives of Education and Library Boards, members of the clergy and politicians.
  

Main Findings

Historical Background

• In the 19th Century the British administration established a system of integrated schooling in the whole of Ireland in the belief that it would help reduce community-based prejudices. The churches frustrated government efforts in this area as control of schools was part of the overall power of the churches to promote the economic and political interests of their respective communities and they were keen not to dilute their power.
• A pattern of state promotion and church resistance to integration was maintained after partition in 1921. The first Unionist administration tried to minimise the role of religion in education in the newly formed school system under the first Londonderry Education Act 1923. The Catholic Church, objecting on the grounds of religious doctrine, refused to transfer its schools into the state system. The Protestant churches agreed to transfer their schools in exchange for the right to representation on boards of governors of controlled schools. Subsequently, the 1923 Act became the template for the second Londonderry Education Act in 1930 - this act heralded the introduction of a system of religiously segregated schools for Protestant and Catholic children.
• Since 1930 successive Unionist administrations attempted to bring the Catholic sector into a closer relationship with the rest of the state system. However, the 'voluntary principle' - the right to education outside the statutory system - has been accepted by successive governments since the inception of the state in 1921. The acceptance of this principle means that more than half the pupil population in NI attend non-state schools.

The Structure of Schooling in NI

• There is a complex system of ownership and administration in the structure of schooling in NI. The state schools are controlled and funded by DENI and administered by five Boards. The members of the Boards are appointed by the Secretary of State, they are nominated by DENI, the churches and a minority of 40% from District Councils. Catholic schools, although funded by DENI, are owned by the Catholic Schools Authorities and largely administered by the CCMS. In the 1970s Church authorities accepted two public representatives onto the board of governors (in the Catholic maintained schools these were nominated by the Boards). The Protestant churches are represented on the board of governors of primary and secondary schools and in the management of voluntary grammar schools.
• There are 54 voluntary Grammar Schools (more than half are Catholic). These deal individually with DENI from whom they receive all or the majority of their funding, with the exception of two that receive no funding from government. The interests of all Grammar schools are represented by the non-statutory Governing Bodies Association. There exists a small religiously integrated sector accounting for approximately 3% of the school population represented by NICIE.
• Direct Rule and the segregated structure of schools in NI has had several important consequences. The education system is more costly than in GB, in 1995 accounting for 10% of GDP in comparison with 5% in GB. There are several Board areas with a great number of small and average size primary/secondary schools offering the same provision but representing different denominations. Research shows that young children derive great benefits from nursery schools, especially in areas of high unemployment and social disadvantage. Yet the Province has the lowest nursery participation rate in the UK. Conversely, the Province has the highest rate of primary school entry at aged 4 years in the UK; it has been argued that formal education cannot meet the specific needs of children of this age.

Schooling and Identity

• Schooling is an important mechanism through which the two communities protect their cultural and political identities. The Catholic Church, by combining religious and cultural beliefs and knowledge, offered Catholics an alternative identity separate from the 'Britishness' of the state school system. This was particularly important in periods when Catholics felt they were being discriminated against in other areas of public policy - especially housing, employment and the gerrymandering of election boundaries.
• Northern Irish Protestants felt reassured by the policy of successive Unionist administrations of dovetailing education policies with developments in Britain. This was especially the case when Protestants perceived powers were being conceded to the Nationalist community and the fear existed that demographic changes in the Catholic community would bring about a united Ireland.
• Although all schools in NI follow the same curriculum some important practical and cultural differences exist. Teaching in Catholic schools is encompassed in the doctrine of the Church. In many schools history is taught from a non-British perspective, the Irish language is taught and Gaelic football is played. Soccer is played in both sets of schools, but rugby is confined to the Protestant Grammar Schools. Many Catholic schools display religious statues and paintings and some state schools have pictures of the Queen and display the Union flag. Until recently, Protestants attending state schools would have been taught British and European history and the history of Ireland would have been felt to be subversive or irrelevant.

Identity and Wider Society

• Given the political conflict in NI, it was inevitable that educational policy would become another aspect of the internal conflict over the future shape of NI. Progress towards social and political consensus is hindered by the dominating role that segregated education plays. Distorted accounts of history and sectarian attitudes exist outside the classroom; these have been shown to undermine cross-community projects and cross-curricular programmes.
• In the context of the NI conflict education became the barometer by which the treatment of Protestants and Catholics by successive governments was measured. Catholics found education to be the only area of public policy and employment over which they had control. Government education policy was scrutinised by Protestants who viewed education as a key means of upholding their separate culture and an expression of the political will to uphold the Union.
• Employment opportunities are a key area for the creation and sustaining of individual and community identities. For example, Protestants had for historical reasons a degree of monopoly over the better paid jobs and higher status occupations. Higher skilled manual workers in manufacturing industries are recruited predominantly from the Protestant community and Catholics tended to make up the workforce in the lower paid, seasonal and economically vulnerable building and construction industry. Catholics were, on average, twice as likely to be unemployed as their Protestant counterparts.
• Experiences in employment and in other areas of life form points of reference for the ways each community thinks about itself and uses and consolidates its cultural heritage and form the basis of perceptions of self, community and society.

Selection

• Selection at age eleven remains the underlying principle of secondary education in NI. From the beginning of free secondary education for everyone in NI, the power of the voluntary bodies was a major factor in shaping policy. The intentions of the Butler Education Act 1944 were subverted in the equivalent NI legislation in 1947. The Governing Bodies Association, formed at the time to protect the interests of grammar schools, successfully argued that they should retain more of their traditional rights to choose pupils than was allowed in the British legislation. In return for 65% of capital grants and full recurrent funding on a per-capita basis - paid directly by DENI - most of the grammar schools agreed to allocate 80% of their places to pupils who had 'academic ability' as indicated by a selection test. A small group of schools made no agreement and took whatever pupils they wanted.
• Initially, the attainment test consisted of an English composition, English Language, Arithmetic and an intelligence test used mostly in border line cases. This was amended in the 1950s and 60s by reducing the volume of attainment in Arithmetic and English and increasing the importance of the intelligence testing part by the introduction of two I.Q. papers. In 1966 English and Arithmetic papers were replaced by two intelligence tests supplemented by teachers assessment of the pupil's attainment in the normal subjects and suitability for grammar school. Recently, the process has come full circle with two tests in Maths, Science and English. This reform and parents increased ambition for their children has had the effect of boosting entry from 54% in 1950 to 95% in 1970.
• The introduction of open enrolment under the 1989 Education Reform Order made the position of non-selective schools, as they sought to have a balance of ability in their intake, more difficult. Even though the 11+ awards the highest marks to 25% of children, the grammar schools take the top 40% of the ability range. The introduction of the six-point scale in marking for the test has resulted in many parents being able to find a place even when their child does not obtain the top grade.

Removing Selection

• Criticism of selection has taken two main forms, the test is wrong in principle or the testing procedure itself is faulty. In the 1970s the Labour Government objected to selective education and wanted to end it in NI. Many people perceived this to be interference from outside. This was especially true of those who were advocates of the grammar school system.
• Research into the selection procedure shows a high correlation between the top grades and high-income levels. The perception of grammar schools as the benchmark of good quality education means that there is no major politically articulate lobby for comprehensive education.
• Under-achievement remains insufficiently tied to the consequences of pupils being branded as failures at 11 years old and the subsequent effects on morale and culture in secondary and grammar schools. Government policy in this area has been to address poor attainment through the Raising Schools Standards Initiative (1995-98) and it's successor the School Improvement Programme (1998).
• Selection remains in place despite evidence that it undermines the pursuit of equality through educational opportunity for all children. It sustains social class as the determinant of success at eleven years of age and beyond.

Selection and Identity

• Protestant grammar schools have achieved higher A Level passes than their counterparts in GB. The success of the grammar school sector forms an important part of Protestant's sense of self and community. This is connected to feelings of industriousness and self-help as a means to success despite economic and political disadvantage.
• The Catholic middle-class, from the 1950s onward, viewed grammar schools as vehicles of social mobility for their children. However, the greater number of poorly qualified children come from the Catholic secondary schools. The Catholic communities from which these children are drawn have historically been subject to greater social and economic disadvantage and, historically, the Catholic school sector as a whole has been under-funded since partition, due to funding arrangements rather than discrimination.

Contemporary Changes

• As part of the curriculum reforms brought about through the 1989 Education Reform Order schools are now required to teach the two cross-community themes of education for mutual understanding and cultural heritage in the context of the normal curriculum. This policy places the conflict firmly in the context of relationships internal to NI rather than using the external contexts of Britain or the Irish Republic.
• The cross-curricular programmes are underpinned by two alternative explanations of the causes of community conflict. The first emphasises schooling and the extent to which the segregated system has contributed to the troubles. The alternative explanation puts more emphasis on economic and political factors paying particular attention to patterns of employment and the outcome in terms of levels of opportunity for Protestants and Catholics.
• The programmes need to recognise that each community has developed a particular pattern of meaning systems based on different cultural, educational and economic experiences. The trust of current policy is to create heterodoxy in definitions of culture - where heritages are treated with equal value. This represents a radical shift from declaring the official culture as purely Unionist which only served to marginalize alternative identities.
• However, no theory of conflict underpins these initiatives. This deeper reality needs to be analysed and included in government policy. The strength of current policy lies in Protestant and Catholic children being given the opportunity to challenge misunderstandings and prejudices within their own society. The policy needs to incorporate the Commission for Racial Equality and similar agencies in America and Europe. It is noted that from the age of 16, history students explore trans-national organisations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organisation. Irish migration could be studied in the context of Dutch migration to South Africa and the penal colonies in Australia.

The Policy Process - Interviews with Policy Makers

• Power has gravitated towards DENI since Direct Rule was introduced in 1972. Under this system local accountability and power to effect policy changes has been limited. Civil servants within DENI have considerable power. At times, individual ministers can affect changes in policy, for example Nicholas Scott gave his support to the establishment of integrated schools and successfully fought to have the first integrated school funded by government despite resistance from civil servants within DENI.
• Former CEOs of the Boards described relations between the Boards and DENI as generally good. There was felt to be a close working relationship between them, especially during the public spending survey review. However, there was felt to be little room for manoeuvre when DENI decided on a particular course of action.
• The CEO in Belfast was able to create policy within his Board independently of DENI. He successfully managed the amalgamation of the three Belfast Colleges of Further Education into the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education and the Springvale Campus.
• The most important innovation introduced by a local authority in NI has been in Craigavon where a junior/senior high school scheme has replaced selection at age 11, selection is postponed until 14, where children either go to a senior secondary or grammar school.
• CEOs and Boards are given a fair degree of discretion to interpret government policy and in the way they spend their budget as long as they do not work against government policy or overspend. In this sense they have more operational freedom because they are not accountable to local authorities but to the Public Accounts Committee through the Permanent Secretary.
• CEOs commend church representatives for their hard work and ability to be able to work together to promote mutual interests. The clergy in turn were positive about their role in bridging the gap between communities.
• CEOs and the clergy felt that the Boards had lost power to DENI and that the Boards had little influence on decisions making. The clergy felt that although they had some power at a local level they felt that often the minister did not listen to them.
• Politicians felt a lack of influence in decision-making, but occasionally they could influence a minister to change his mind. The elected status of politicians did give them a degree of influence with DENI. All the politicians agreed that lack of accountability due to direct rule was a bad thing. Politicians saw the clergy as at times acting as a stabilising force or a source of division. One Unionist politician felt that the local civil servants offered a degree of stability in the system as they had knowledge and experience of NI.
• The Alliance politician felt that the grammar school lobby was the greatest source of influence outside DENI. Often former grammar school pupils who were members of DENI were in this lobby.
• One politician felt strongly that the grammar school sector was disproportionately powerful educationally and socially.
• The civil servants interviewed felt strongly that the power to frame and operate policy lay with the Minister; their role was to point out the practical implications of policy and point out the alternatives.
• One civil servant observed that power was exercised through finance and legislation and since the Boards, CCMS and other bodies were only marginally involved in both, their role lay in the different interpretations they put on aspects of policy. In acting separately their influence was weakened because they could not present a united front to the Minister. The civil servants interpreted the churches influence as mainly negative.
• The first Director of the CCMS felt policy-making decisions often depended on the strength of the Minister's interest. Due to direct rule, lobby groups could wield more power either to bring changes of policy about or prevent change happening.

Recommendations

• Several aspects of education policy in NI will need to be urgently addressed when local control returns under the Good Friday Agreement.
• Ways need to be found to improve the levels of qualifications attained by pupils from areas of disadvantage. The status of secondary schools needs to be addressed.
• The extension of the system of selection in Craigavon, where selection is postponed until age 14, should be considered.
• It should be accepted that it is not appropriate to transplant policy from England and Wales to NI. The unique circumstances and the strengths and weaknesses of the NI system should be taken into account when framing policy.