Hugh Scullion Workers Party Representative comments on the Party Response to the Integrated Education Consultation which closed on Friday 23rd May 2025
Mr Scullion in his comments made the point that this is a few short paragraphs of the party response and that the detailed response can be read on the party website workersparty.net he continued by quoting from the party response, how can we expect the next generation to progress if they continue to be subjected to the segregation and reinforced division that defined the experiences of their parents and grandparents?
Rather than pitting opposing education sector against one and other, young people in Northern Ireland deserve the opportunity to navigate their formative years in the care of an inclusive system everyone can share. Researchers Anderson Worden and Smith (2017) note that “the lack of committed reform to integrating Northern Ireland schools prevents the education sector from making a substantive contribution to transitional justice efforts and to reconciling divisions in the post-conflict context” .
The Workers Party believes that integrated education has been hived off into a silo where a modest increase in the numbers of integrated schools is counted as a success while the basic educational divisions persist, the Executive needs to push for the substantive changes that integrated education will bring to Northern Ireland. Mr Scullion concluded by saying we note that this kind of bold commitment is absent from Vision 2030 and the accompanying Action Plan