When Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong launched her private member’s bill seeking to enhance the provision for integrated education in Northern Ireland, a few feathers were always going to be ruffled.
he latest consideration stage of the bill has been passed by the Assembly, a lengthy debate causing division after division, spread across three days.
Currently there is legislation which obliges the Department of Education to encourage and facilitate integrated education. Ms Armstrong’s bill proposes the setting of minimum targets for the number of children being educated in integrated schools, as well as providing dedicated funding for facilitation of the sector.
It aims to reform and meet the growing demand for integrated education, giving it the same support as controlled and maintained schools, allowing for its promotion and provision.
…
