Education Minister Paul Givan has been accused of a “flawed” decision after rejecting a bid by Northern Ireland’s biggest school to transform to integrated status.
Mr Givan turned down Bangor Academy’s application – drawing criticism from the school and politicians – despite overwhelming support from parents.
Another North Down school, Rathmore Primary, which has almost 600 pupils, was also unsuccessful in its bid for integrated status.
Explaining his decision, Mr Givan said the proposals “were carefully considered”, but approval could only be granted where a school was likely to have “reasonable numbers” of children from both main traditions in Northern Ireland.
Bangor Academy and Sixth Form College.
Bangor Academy principal Matthew Pitts said there was extreme disappointment at the news.
“We are proud of the inclusive, diverse nature of our school and we will continue to deliver an outstanding education in the future regardless of this decision,” he said.
“Our Board of Governors took the decision to consult with our school community as it believes that the core principles and values of integration are vital for all students and for the future of Northern Ireland.
“We are disappointed that the Minister has gone against the significant number of parents who voted in favour of integration but I would like to thank them for their engagement, challenge and sense of optimism that this process delivered.”
But Mr Givan said there was little evidence that the numbers would change in the foreseeable future to justify granting integrated status.
“Over recent years, the percentage of Catholic children attending both Bangor Academy and Sixth Form College and Rathmore Primary school has been around 3%,” he said.
“When a school transforms to integrated, the precise religious balance within the school will vary depending on local circumstances.
“When considering the demographics of the local area, the extremely limited and historic enrolments from the Catholic community and the availability of both Catholic maintained and other integrated options, I believe there is insufficient evidence that reasonable numbers could be achieved in the future.
“I would anticipate that changing the status of the two schools to integrated would only have a marginal impact on the number of Catholic children attending the schools. Even on the most optimistic analysis, it would appear highly unlikely that reasonable numbers could be achieved.”
Education Minister Paul Givan
Mr Givan said both development proposals “contained insufficient evidence of how these issues could be overcome”.
“I understand that this news will be disappointing for the two schools, the pupils and parents who supported the proposals for integrated education,” he added.
Bangor Academy and Rathmore had separately balloted parents of school pupils, with almost 80% supporting Bangor Academy’s proposal and over 82% backing Rathmore’s.
Paul Caskey, chief executive of the Integrated Education Fund, said the decision was “hard to comprehend”.
“In reaching this flawed decision, the Minister has clearly rejected, not only the desire of the school community but also the advice of his own officials, the Education Authority and the Controlled Schools Support Council,” he said.
“It is hard to comprehend how such decisions reflect the Department of Education’s statutory duty to ‘support, encourage and facilitate’ integrated education.”
News Catch Up – Wednesday 8 January
Alliance MLA Nick Mathison, chair of the Assembly’s education committee, said he was baffled by the decisions.
“Parents have spoken clearly and unambiguously on this, so it is baffling to see the decisions reached by the Minister.”
He added: “I will be seeking answers from him in the Assembly as a matter of urgency, as those who overwhelmingly voted to transform to integrated status will no doubt be asking serious questions about the minister’s judgment.”
Local Alliance MLA Connie Egan said Mr Givan is “effectively blocking integrated education across North Down”.
“These are not only exceptionally disappointing decisions by the Education Minster but deeply concerning ones,” she said.
“This move will cause hurt right across North Down, with 79.4% of parents at Bangor Academy and 82.3% of parents at Rathmore now feeling as if their views have now been ignored. This will hurt people right across North Down.”
SDLP MLA Cara Hunter, who sits on the education committee, said Mr Givan’s decision “flies in the face of the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the parents at Bangor Academy and in the case of Rathmore Primary, the recommendation of his own officials”.
“Ultimately, no Education Minister should be able to veto the views of schools and parents of the children and young people who attend without proper justification,” she added.
Parents at Bangor Academy originally voted in favour of integrated status in June 2023.
At the time Mr Pitts said he was delighted at such an “overwhelmingly positive result”.
The current school enrolment shows that just 2.9% of those attending are from a Catholic background, with 59.1% Protestant and 38% identifying as other religions or none.