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Education systems in the North

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  • 06-02-2010 1:30pm
    #1
    Dionysus
    Registered Users Posts: 3,420 ✭✭✭


    I'm reading this article on today's BBC and it distinguishes between "non-denominational" schools and "Catholic" schools in the North.

    I assume "non-denominational" are not state schools as the United Kingdom is officially a Protestant, or rather Anglican, state where nobody but a member of the Church of England can become head of state. Where, therefore, are these non-denominational schools?


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    #2
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    Not sure what point you are trying to make. Apart from that, education in NI is a law unto itself, legistation there is not applicable to England.


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    #3
    T runner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,307 ✭✭✭T runner


    The State schools in NI all have Protestant clergy on their boards. These schools have a Protestant and British ethos. 45% of pupils are educated in Catholic schools and almost all the rest are in State schools.

    NI has a very high level of religious segregation compared to the rest of the UK and Ireland. Segregated education will perpetuate a segregated society and ensure the continuation of the zero-sum tribal war defined by religion.

    Reform of this system is necessary: but would meet huge resistance I feel.

    Complete secularisation down here would have much influence.


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    #4
    oppenheimer1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,084 ✭✭✭oppenheimer1


    T runner wrote: »
    The State schools in NI all have Protestant clergy on their boards. These schools have a Protestant and British ethos. 45% of pupils are educated in Catholic schools and almost all the rest are in State schools.

    NI has a very high level of religious segregation compared to the rest of the UK and Ireland. Segregated education will perpetuate a segregated society and ensure the continuation of the zero-sum tribal war defined by religion.

    Reform of this system is necessary: but would meet huge resistance I feel.

    Complete secularisation down here would have much influence    .

    I doubt that very much. Society has secularised down here quite a lot, especially in the last 20 years. The same can't be said for the north. While the violence has died down, it is still totally tribal.


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    #5
    Sulmac
    Registered Users Posts: 1,021 ✭✭✭Sulmac


    As someone who has been through it, I can safely the NI system is completely tribal (it reinforces the "us" and "them" mentality) and I can't see it changing any time soon. There's also the grammar school/secondary school division at second level that ingrains another "label" on people: those who were smart enough to get in and those who weren't. It's horrible to tag someone as being of a certain level of intelligence at age eleven - and even when they try to change it the schools themselves refuse!

    Saying that, there's a growing sector of "integrated" schools which provide a tiny glimmer of hope for the future - although they're often looked down upon by the majority in both communities as lacking.


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