Many integrated schools become ‘less religiously balanced’

Many schools which transform to integrated status end up becoming less religiously balanced, according to the education minister.

Paul Givan released a written statement to the NI Assembly on Thursday, outlining the numbers of Protestant and Catholic pupils he would expect to be in any school he approves to transform.

The statement said the transformation of schools to integrated status has had “limited success in achieving balanced religious demographics”.

In January, Givan turned down a bid by two schools in Bangor – Bangor Academy and Rathmore Primary – to become integrated.

At the time, he said that there was not enough evidence that there would be enough Catholic pupils at each school for it to provide integrated education.

About 70 out of more than 1,000 primary and post-primary schools in Northern Ireland are integrated.

The minister said newly established integrated schools, that did not originate from transformation, have generally exhibited a very good balance of pupils from both religious backgrounds.

Earlier this year the department launched Vision 2030 – a five-year strategy which it said aims to set out targets and benchmarks for the development of integrated education.

Proposals for transforming to integrated status should demonstrate the ability to attract at least 10% of Year 1 or Year 8 pupils from the minority tradition, according to the statement.

It adds that, if transforming, schools should demonstrate the ability to attract “15% of the combined number of Protestant and Catholic year 1 or year 8 pupils, in the first year of Transformation.”

According to Thursday’s statement, there are six post-primary schools in Northern Ireland that have transformed to integrated status.

The Department of Education aspires to a 40:40:20 balance (Protestant: Catholic: Other) for integrated schools.

However the statement says that one school, which transformed over 25 years ago, has not yet reached the target of 10% of Catholic pupils, which is set for the first year of transformation.

“Two other transformed schools have seen the percentage of Protestant pupils drop precipitously since transformation,” the statement added.

“In one case from 72% to 24% and in another from 40% to 17%.”

Meanwhile, 25 primary schools have transformed to become controlled integrated schools.

Six of these have transformed within the last seven years.

The statement said that none of these six “come close to the 40:40:20 aspiration”.

“One school has seen the number of Protestant pupils fall from 66% to 23% while the number of Catholic pupils has increased from 6% to 48%,” it adds.

A total of 19 other schools have transformed outside the seven-year period – between 1991 and 2016.

In 12 of these schools, the majority community outnumbers the minority community by at least 2:1, the statement said.

The statement concludes: “These figures reveal that the transformation of schools to integrated status has had limited success in achieving balanced religious demographics, particularly between Protestant and Catholic pupils.

“Despite the aspiration for a 40:40:20 balance (Protestant: Catholic: Other), few of the transformed schools—primary or post-primary—come close to this target, and many are less balanced now than when they first transformed.

“Even in schools transformed decades ago, reasonable numbers of both communities are not present and some have seen declines in diversity.

“These patterns suggest that transformation, unlike newly established integrated schools, is not producing demographic integration and the reasonable numbers which define integrated education.”

A law requiring the Department of Education to give more support to integrated education was passed by assembly members in April 2022.

It defined an integrated schools as one that “intentionally supports, protects and advances an ethos of diversity, respect and understanding between those of different cultures and religious beliefs and of none”.

But the commitments contained in the new law led some schools, education bodies and church representatives to claim it would “elevate integrated schools” above other types of school.

Integrated schools aim to mix pupils of different cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and religious beliefs, including “reasonable” numbers of both Protestant and Roman Catholic children and young people.

The first integrated school in Northern Ireland, Lagan College, opened in 1981.

But while the numbers of integrated schools in Northern Ireland have grown in recent years, only about 8% of pupils attend formally integrated schools.