City interfacescheme isbearing fruit

First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness issued a joint statement on the positive outcomes achieved by the Foyle Contest Space programme which got underway in March 2011.

The Ministers stated the Foyle Contested Space project - which is sharing in a £4m funding injection - has helped develop shared education in Londonderry at both primary and post primary levels.

It has also “increased teacher capacity and stronger institutional links between schools, and between the community and schools.”

Equally, “children are better equipped to make informed lifestyle choices living in a contested space city” as a result of the project.

And: “Stakeholders (children, teachers, parents, education managers, governors) travel through contested space, engaging in areas that previously would have been seen as hostile. Contested space becomes shared space.”

The Ministers stated that: “A more definitive analysis of outcomes achieved across the projects will be available on completion of the overall evaluation at the end of the Programme lifetime. Contested space becomes shared space.”