Education: Integrated sector to get £2m in government funding

Brandon Lewis says £1.9m will be given to the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) and the NI Council for Integrated Education (NICIE)

The UK government is to provide almost £2m to help schools in Northern Ireland that want to transform to become integrated.

Secretary of State Brandon Lewis signalled the move in a recent conference speech, but has now provided details.

Existing schools can become formally integrated in a process that includes a ballot of parents.

A number of schools have changed status to become integrated in recent years.

At a conference organised by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) in June, Mr Lewis said that the demand for integrated education was not currently being met.

He also said the government would promote the benefits of integrated education to parents, teachers and pupils.

At a conference in June, Brandon Lewis said that the demand for integrated education was not currently being met

But the umbrella bodies for both Catholic and Controlled schools were critical of the fact they were not invited to the conference.

The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) and Controlled Schools Support Council (CSSC) described their absence as "concerning" and "alarming".

Mr Lewis has now said the UK government will provide £1.9m to the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE).

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NICIE offers advice to parents and schools on the process of transformation and will get about £435,000 spread over the next three years.

The IEF raises awareness of the process and the merits of integrated education and will get an additional £1.4m over the same period.

The actor Liam Neeson is among those who have supported the IEF to encourage more schools to transform to integrated status.

In a statement announcing the funding, Mr Lewis said that "seeing greater integration of education across Northern Ireland is an absolute priority for me".

"My hope is that integration will soon become the norm and not the exception in schools across Northern Ireland," he said.

A new law requiring the Department of Education (DE) to give more "support" to integrated education was passed by assembly members in March.

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.

The new law is the result of a private member's bill brought by the Alliance assembly member Kellie Armstrong, who welcomed the funding commitment.

"Integrated education is a key way forward in building a united community and this money will now allow parents to transform their school to integrated status, especially in areas where no alternative integrated option is available," she said.