In my adult lifetime there were 17 controlled post primary secondary schools in Belfast-now there are 4, this represents an alarming decline of… 76% !
What happened to-Park Parade, Orangefield Boys, Orangefield Girls, Larkfield, Dunlambert, Graymount, Mountcollyer, Somerdale, Everton, Forthriver, Glencairn, Ballygomartin, Kelvin, Balmoral, Cairnmartin, Mountgilbert…?
Actually only the 2 Models and the 2 Ashfields survive
Where would Van Morrison, James Galway, George Best........go now ?
The process continues unabated, 29% of post primary controlled schools have closed since 1994 and 22% in the last decade alone with further threats to the non- selective sector in Coleraine, Lurgan, Newtownards and other places.
This is by far the largest decline of any sector.
There has been a 16% decrease in the number of post primary schools since 1993/1994 ....but a 29% fall in the number of Controlled post primary schools
It seems to me that the Controlled Sector is disproportionately bearing the brunt of the albeit necessary process of reducing the school estate.
A similar picture emerges in the other Board areas.
What is happening to the non- selective sector of our education system-a sector with a long and cherished tradition of helping our young people?-the data suggests we are losing part of our tradition.
Why is this happening?
Government policies are impacting negatively on the Controlled non- selective component of our educational system and of course, more importantly on the children the sector serves.
Government policies such as-the duty to promote Integrated education, and laudable as it is to educate children together, it seems to me that when you build an extra school in a town and when grammar schools are required to fill up to their admissions figure, the only school from which the pupils will realistically come is the local non selective school and this places its existence in jeopardy.
The needs of a generation of children at Controlled Secondary schools are being ignored as their schools are being allowed or indeed encouraged to wither on the vine.
This is a means of reducing the school estate and saving money under the guise of parental choice, what about the right of choice for those parents to have their children educated in their local non selective school, who is their voice?
The effect of this around the province appears to be either the closing, merging or a move to amalgamate non- selective schools in a midway location between towns affected. It is the controlled non -selective schools which have been a hitherto soft target and the process appears to be pushing the very pupils who need the support of their local community away from that community.
The secondary schools in many areas and even in our large towns are struggling. It cannot be educationally or socially beneficial that the outcomes deprive the local community of the community school.
In my view the approach is costly, inefficient and unnecessarily painful for many pupils and communities who should be at the heart of the decision making.
Surely if there are not enough children in a town for two schools then there should only be one school-if the alternative is to bus some of them out of town or close their schools, could we not at least look at other models of managing schools? Models such as a strategic alliance or soft federation of governors might be appropriate- if we can't amalgamate?
The Department of Education’s Sustainability Policy list 6 sustainability criteria, two of which are
-strong links with the community and
-accessibility
And the policy goes on to include
-help to maintain local provision
So Government policy is to place schools at the heart of their community-----how can this policy be delivered if the school is closed or moved out of town?
We need to look at the effect this is having around the province-I suggest it is disempowering an entire section of our community. The message is clear- you are not important enough to be educated in the town whilst those selected are.
This part of our community already often feels disengaged from education, as the results and repeated media reports show.
The laudable policy of educating children together is causing unnecessary pain to a generation of children, further reducing their engagement with education and therefore their employability, denying them equality of access and denying them a stake in society.
How can this be right?
Postscript:
The recently enacted Integrated Education Bill is a further huge blow to the Controlled sector, particularly the non selective.---against the wishes incidentally of the guardians of the sector, the churches, CSSC and the schools.