Sir, – Diarmaid Ferriter’s article on Lord Londonderry’s attempt to implement a non-denominational system of education in the 1920s in Northern Ireland has certainly provoked comment on the current education provision in Northern Ireland and in particular on the failure of our politicians and others to progress the advance of integrated education effectively (“Much of discord in Northern Ireland rooted in failure to integrate schools”, Opinion & Analysis, November 4th) .
In 1968, I came to Northern Ireland to teach in a model integrated comprehensive school in Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone (Western Education Board). A remarkable experiment at the time, it was extremely successful in providing for pupils of all abilities and drawn from both communities. Sadly during the “Troubles” the scheme was abandoned.
Today, over 50 years later, the vast majority of pupils (93 per cent) in Northern Ireland, continue to be taught in schools that are segregated by religion, divided on ability, and where a virtual sporting apartheid further separates our wonderful young people. Even our teachers are trained in separate colleges! Prof Gallagher (Letters, November 18th) quite rightly argues that many young people benefit from the shared education strategies which have been promoted in recent times (£25 million in government funding).
My own experience over 40 years as a practising teacher, during which I participated in and indeed led numerous cross-community and cross-border schemes with other schools (joint academic classes and sporting events), involvement with Corrymeela, the Asgard, the Cross Border Orchestra, the European Studies project and joint political forums with guest speakers, has only served to convince me that while such experiences may be worthwhile, the reality is that until our politicians and educationalists recognise the absolutely vital importance of educating our children together, there will be little effective change in the next 50 years. – Yours, etc,
DAVID GRIFFIN,
Banbridge,
Co Down.