Education Policy Statement

Northern Ireland should actively promote itself as a leading region for lifelong learning. Our shockingly high rates of poor literacy (almost 25% of adults have only basic literacy and numeracy) place us amongst the worst regions in Europe. Our education places too much emphasis on acquiring skills for the economy and not enough on life skills, personal development and citizenship, even with the welcome changes proposed to the curriculum. Greater emphasis should be placed on the role education plays in developing the individual as a citizen and an independent thinker, thus equipping them to engage well in the social and economic activity of Northern Ireland. For children, the concept of play needs to be reintroduced into education. For adults it is necessary to recognise that the initial stages of learning are often informal and hesitant – not formal and accredited.

While increased resources have been put into adult education recently, resources are not always used in the most effective way, especially if they are entirely channelled into statutory provision. There needs to be research into the impact of community-based education and the value it adds in other areas such as health and employment. Educational resources also need to be opened up to the community in the form of school facilities, which often lie dormant every evening and for large chunks of the year. In addition local access to learning could be enhanced through outreach in community centres. Duplication and even triplication of educational provision along sectarian lines and separate teacher training do not represent an acceptable use of public resources and must be urgently addressed.

Voluntary and community organisations experience difficulties with the segmentation of responsibilities associated with education, not only with the interface between DE and DEL, but with the lack of joining up within departments. In short we need a cohesive strategy and a champion for lifelong learning within government.

• There should be a commitment to the ending of academic selection by 2005 – because of the damage it does to individuals and communities.
• There should be a specific focus on the early childhood years 0-6 and support for a distinct pre-school experience for ages 3-6, with a curriculum based on play and creativity.
• The decreasing child population in Northern Ireland should be treated as an opportunity to reduce class sizes and transform nursery schools into children’s centres located in communities where children and parents can learn together, as is happening in England.
• The enriched curriculum should be expanded into all pre-school and key stage 1 provision across Northern Ireland with a proper pastoral care role for teachers and appropriate teacher training.
• Pre-school children with special education needs in the voluntary and independent sectors should receive the same financial and personal support as is available to those with similar needs in statutory nursery places. All school buildings and the curriculum should support inclusion and be accessible to children and young people with disabilities.
• Within three years there should be a fully functioning credit accumulation and transfer system which all providers would be required to adopt.
• A common approach must be adopted to standards and funding between statutory and voluntary and community sector providers and there must be greater equity of funding in building collaborative arrangements between providers in the different sectors.
• There needs to be sustained support for neighbourhood based community learning and the infrastructure that exists to provide local access to education.
• There must be a commitment to widening access to post-secondary education to include a fair and realistic maintenance system to support and resource the most disadvantaged.