Integrated education in Northern Ireland received a boost with the announcement of wideranging proposals for the promotion of tolerance in schools by the North's Minister for Education, Mr John McFall.
Leaders of the four main churches and key figures in the education sector attended the launch of the document, Towards a Culture of Tolerance: Integrating Education, in Armagh. Speaking at the presentation, Mr McFall said the Belfast Agreement placed a duty on everyone to work together to develop and support reconciliation and mutual understanding at all levels of society. "Education has a seminal role in this and the proposals in this report set out how schools can reinforce and promote a culture of tolerance," he said.
The document has been circulated to education interests, community relations bodies and district councils in order to elicit opinions on the proposals by the end of February. Mr Michael Wardlow, the chief executive of Northern Ireland's Council for Integrated Education, commended the report as a demonstration of "good partnership" among the North's education providers. He said the inclusion of integrated education in the Belfast Agreement imbeds it as an "essential element of our future civic society".
Currently 3 per cent of the school-going population in the North are in integrated education. "In order to meet the continual pressing demand for integrated provision, we aim to be in a position where within the next decade 10 per cent of school places will be integrated," said Mr Wardlow.
The SDLP Education spokesman, Mr Tommy Gallagher, yesterday called for a human rights programme to be introduced in all schools. "In this community the acceptance of difference and tolerance of diversity are an essential part of the transition from a conflict to a peaceful situation."