Ulster University apologises to education research academics

The research was the latest in a series of Ulster University papers on Northern Ireland's education system

Ulster University (UU) has publicly apologised to two academics behind research on the cost of Northern Ireland's divided education system.

The research had claimed the separate school system cost £226m extra a year to the public purse.

The university is also retracting a previous statement which asked for its logo to be removed from the report.

Vice-chancellor Prof Paul Bartholomew has now said that previous statement "is not compatible with my views".

The Cost of Division research estimated the total price of division and duplication of services in education in Northern Ireland at about £600,000 a day.

It examined the cost of things such as additional school transport due to segregation and academic selection, separate schools in an area, and the money spent on programmes to bring children educated separately together.

The research, which was the latest in a series of UU papers on Northern Ireland's education system, was partially funded by the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) and published with Ulster University's logo.

Dr Stephen Roulston and Dr Matt Milliken were the authors of the research report.

In an unusual move, the Department of Education subsequently criticised it, calling it "flawed and over simplified".

Ulster University also issued a statement which said that the research report was "not reflective of the views of the university".

"While we support the right and freedom of academics to publish reports such as these, we have requested that the incorrect use of the university's logo is remedied through its removal from this report," UU said in a statement to BBC News NI on 23 May.

But UU's vice-chancellor Prof Bartholomew has now retracted that previous statement and made a public apology to the two academics.

Prof Paul Bartholomew has issued a public apology to the academics

In a statement to BBC News NI, Prof Bartholomew said that: "As vice-chancellor of Ulster University, I am retracting this university statement as it is not compatible with my views as chief academic officer of the institution.

"I am now making a public apology, on behalf of the university, to the authors of the paper - Stephen Roulston and Matt Milliken - for the institution having made this statement," he continued.

"The university supports all its academics' right to publish their views - as long as they are not in direct contradiction of the university's basic values - and there was certainly no such tension with this paper.

"I understand that the position taken in this publication may be controversial, or uncomfortable for some, but that is an entirely legitimate part of academic discourse, and it is certainly not for the university to take a particular view on the merits of individual papers.

"Instead, it is important that academic institutions provide a neutral, but robust, environment to facilitate the production, discussion, and evolution of knowledge."

Prof Bartholomew also said that UU would host a public seminar at which the findings of the research paper would be discussed.

'We hope the matter can be laid to rest'

Dr Milliken told BBC News NI that both he and Dr Roulston "welcome this retraction and the fulsome apology made by the vice-chancellor".

"In all of the 18 Transforming Education papers published to date we have invariably used robust, academic methods to shine a light on dimensions of the education system here that some would prefer to keep in the dark," he said.

"We sincerely hope that this matter can now be laid to rest and that discussion can once again focus on the policies, practices and procedures that maintain our socially and financially costly segregated system of schooling.

"In the words of our most recent paper on the Cost of Division: 'The question is not: Can we afford to address this?'

"Instead it should be: 'Can we really afford not to?'"