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Northern Ireland: Integrated Schools

My Lords, I join others in thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Blood, for giving us this opportunity to speak on this very important subject. The undemocratic nature of the Orders in Council used under direct rule to govern Northern Ireland means that opportunities to debate Northern Ireland issues such as this are few and far between. It has been good to hear noble Lords around the House expressing so clearly their views and their encouragement of the main topic. Schools in Northern Ireland have already been subjected to enormous changes in the recent education order—some of them, such as the banning of selection, in the face of enormous opposition from the Northern Irish public. More thought, time and attention needs to be given to the wishes of the public before such draconian orders are put through in the future. Integrated schools are a matter that, more than most, should be governed with great sensitivity to public opinion and local, as well as national, feeling. These points were made very clearly by the noble Lords, Lord Parekh and Lord Smith. On these Benches, we have been consistent supporters of integrated schools ever since Lagan College opened in 1981. In 1989, we laid a statutory duty on the Department of Education to encourage integrated schools in our education order, and we have never looked back. Lagan College was the first site that the leader of our party visited in Northern Ireland in 2005. Over the years, integrated schools have proved themselves many times over. They are academically successful, with a significantly higher GCSE average than other all-ability schools in Northern Ireland, and they are extremely popular. In the face of falling enrolment numbers, already mentioned several times, integrated schools have to turn away 500 pupils a year. They contribute immeasurably to the all-important task of bringing the communities of Northern Ireland together. When I started the Ocean youth club in 1979, we set about bringing together young people from different walks of life. Youngsters would come on board, each thinking that the other was from a different world, whether it was a Catholic looking at a Prod or a Prod looking at a Catholic. Then, 10 days later, they would be walking hand in hand down the quay. That is living together and creating understanding, even though, in that case, it was only for about a week. However, integrated schools cannot be imposed on a community. It is the parents who seek such an option for their children and remain active in the governing of schools who make that success possible. The fact that so many parents actively reject the religious divisions that have defined Northern Ireland community relations for so long and send their children to be taught in an environment that consciously moves on from the past is extremely encouraging and one of the greatest causes for optimism about Northern Ireland’s future. Integrated schools are a crucial tool to allow the next generation to be educated in a growing atmosphere of cross-community co-operation and friendship. But you cannot force people to change their ideologies, nor can you expect children to move on from beliefs that their community has propounded for generations without the full and active support of their parents. Of course, I would like more integrated schools to be set up, but that drive must come from the parents themselves. I hope, therefore, that this Government continue to make grants available for the foundation of integrated schools as soon as there is sufficient support to maintain them. The over-subscription that we see today suggests that more could be done to meet that demand. However, I cannot support the idea that children should be forced to integrate beyond what their parents are comfortable with. It is in the family that children learn their values and prejudices, not only in schools. Integration must be fully supported by the wider community before a school can have a chance of succeeding. It is naïve and optimistic to believe that you can parachute into a troubled area an oasis of fraternity and love. The Conservative Party has always stood for parental choice. I hope that the Government will continue to offer the choice of an integrated schooling to those who are willing to go down that route, but we cannot ignore the majority of parents who wish to send their children to other varieties of schools—Catholic, Protestant, academic and selective, or other types. Parents should decide how their children should be educated and the Government’s role—going back to the opening speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Blood—is to give them those options and to support their choice.