Just 1 per cent of the population in the loyalist Shankill area of west Belfast go to third-level education, according to Mr Martin McGuinness, former minister for education in the North.
"I, as an Irish republican, find that disgusting and am determined to bring it to an end," he told the Sinn Féin ardfheis as he launched the party's policy document Educate that you may be free.
Motions on education included a call for both governments to include the period of the hunger strikes in the history curriculum at every level in schools, especially since the Leaving Certificate curriculum was changing.
There were calls for more Irish-language schools as a practical means to increase the number of Irish speakers.
One delegate praised those who had invested time and money in ensuring the ongoing development of Irish-language schools "in the face of at best inaction and often downright hostility from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments".
The ardfheis also backed the campaign against the reintroduction of university fees.
One of the motions reiterated the commitment to end the 11+ exam in the North by 2004, a key ambition of the former minister.
Mr McGuinness told the ardfheis that, as a remnant of Thatcherite thinking in the North, there had been an excessive focus on educational outcomes.
"I would be concerned if the 26 Counties were tempted to follow suit. Sinn Féin does not wish to ignore the importance of such outcomes. At the same time, we acknowledge that teachers contribute to the growth, development and education of our children and young people in ways that are not readily or immediately measurable."
The main concept in the policy document is the "learning neighbourhood", a cluster of education providers working locally with the involvement of the community, parents and other agencies. This idea "is not Sinn Féin's private property" but, as a party, it wanted to give it "maximum support", Mr McGuinness said.
The document includes "education and national reunification", and the party is involved in developing policy objectives in relation to all-Ireland institutions.
The party's education spokesman in the South, Mr Sean Crowe, said Sinn Féin was "fully committed to a free education system". Every penny invested in ensuring free access to education "is repaid many times".
