b'INTEGRATED EDUCATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED? The Integrated Education Movement has a track record of success, winning changes in law, precedent and practice to lay foundations for the future.SUCCESS: TRANSFORMATION SUCCESS: GROWTH The first success was the 1978 Dunleath Act, which allowed Catholic andThenumberofpupils,andschools,hasgrownfrom28childrenin Protestant schools to transform to integrated status. Whilst there were noone school in 1981 to 24,000 children in 65 schools at nursery, primary and successful transformations at that time, today transformation has beensecond level in 2019: if there were more integrated schools, offering more accepted as a way forward and over 35% of all integrated schools haveintegrated school places, then there would be more children benefiting achieved this status through transformation. In 2019, parents at 6 morefrom this kind of education.schools balloted in favour of transformation following the success of ourIntegrated education is the fastest growing form of education in Integrate My School Campaign supported by the Ireland Funds. Northern Ireland with 30 School Development Proposals for the growth SUCCESS: PUBLIC OPINION thatH Fund(IEF),revealsSU \x16and expansion of existing integrated schools having been approved by the Department of Education since 2014, creating around 1,700 new integrated The 2018 Northern Ireland wide opinion poll, carried out by Lucid Talkschool places and yet hundreds of first preferences still being denied due andcommissionedbytheIntegratedEducationto the lack of available places.that almost 70% of parents interviewed said they would back a move to transform their childs school to integrated (Lucid Talk, 2018).IntheIndependentReviewofIntegratedEducation(2017)CCESS: PUBLIC AND POLITICAL SUPPORTcommissionedbytheDepartmentofEducation,over86%ofrespon- There is a commitment to support integrated education in Article 13 of the dents believe that integrated education is vital to breaking down barriersGood Friday Agreement.betweenCatholicsandProtestants,andthereshouldbemoreThe Independent Review of Integrated Education published in 2017 integrated schools in Northern Ireland. contained 39 recommendations to the Minister of Education regarding the growth and development of integrated education. RTBBDRR9\x03KHEDKNMF\x03HMSDQ,QDK FHNTR\x03 ThemostpositiveDepartmentofEducationguidanceeveron CONTACT integrated education was published in January 2018 entitled Integration Research shows that integrated schooling has a significant and positive so- Works.cial influence on the lives of those who experience it, most notably in terms of fostering cross-community friendships, reducing prejudicial attitudesSUCCESS: RECURRENT FUNDINGand promoting a sense of security in religious, racial, or ethnically diverseByprovingdemandandviability,integratedschoolshavewonstate environments (ARK Research Update Number 111, April 2017; Stringer,fundingofrecurrentcostsfornewschoolsprovidedcertainstringent 2009, 2000; Montgomery et al., 2003; McGlynn, 2001; Irwin, 1991). viability criteria are met.Other research (Stringer et al., 2009, 2000;) has found that the inter-group contact of integrated or mixed schools can influence social attitudes,SUCCESS: CAPITAL FUNDING FOR with pupils adopting more positive positions on key social issues such asEXISTING SCHOOLSpolitics, religion, identity, mixed marriages and integrated education. Just under 300 million in capital funding has been agreed for integrat-Attendance at formally integrated schools specifically, or schoolsed schools by HM UK Treasury as part of the Fresh Start Agreement, which had generally a mixed religious intake, also had a significantlybenefiting 23 out of the 65 existing integrated schools.positive effect on the attitudes of young Protestants to young Catholics. Dirk Schubotz, 2017. connect 201936'