Weir & Bailie on Integrated Education

Workers Party representatives in North Belfast Gemma Weir and Chris Bailie say the time is right for an Independent Commission on integrated education.

Their comments come after the publication of a newspaper poll of young people in which over 80% of respondents said that integrated education was important for the future.

“The poll results are in stark contrast to the position of most of the main political parties and to our segregated education system”, they said.

Assembly out of touch

‘The very high percentage of young people who recognise the importance of integrated education and the findings of another recent survey which found that 83% of parents believe integrated education is a vital part of creating a shared future in Northern Ireland, shows just how out of touch the Executive and the Assembly are on this issue”, Gemma and Chris said.

‘The main political parties here are failing to give the people of Northern Ireland what they overwhelmingly want. At the moment fewer than seven per cent of our children are educated in the integrated sector’

‘Clearly this is an area which the main parties at Stormont do not wish to address. An Independent Commission should now be tasked with the responsibility of mapping out an Integrated Education Strategy’, concluded Gemma and Chris