A Day At The Races

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Maddy

Busy, busy, busy – as the new term approaches, both in academic and assembly terms, the office at the Fund is working towards a fresh round of activities and campaigning.

The fundraising team is looking ahead first to the 9th September when the annual IEF Race Day is scheduled for Down Royal.   Gemma and Brian have been encouraging supporters to come along and have been occupied in sourcing all the elements needed to make it as successful and convivial as ever.  I’ve never worked in that field so I’m always struck by how many things need to be organised and booked and how much attention to detail is required.

And although the glamorous clothes, delicious food, good conversation  and entertainment make for a great day out, the Down Royal Race Day is more than that; it has to work for us as a campaigning charity. Thanks to the support of so many people, including those who buy tickets and turn up to enjoy themselves, the celebrities who give of their time and talent so willingly and our brilliant sponsors, the event has typically benefitted the IEF to the tune of around £10,000 each year.

I’m sure a good time will had by all, though I have to take that on faith – it’s definitely not
party time for IEF staff and along with many of my colleagues I’ll be in the office with my nose to the grindstone/fingers to the keyboard/ear to the phone that day as we get on with the next activity on our packed programme; watch this space!

To find out more about the raceday at Down Royal click here.

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Summer schemes, and the living is easy!

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Maddy

Most areas offer summer activities for youngsters; a godsend to bored children and busy parents. They are frequently area-based regarding local councils, open to all children whatever their background, whilst some go a step further and declare themselves to be actively furthering community relations through sport, drama or whatever.  It’s obviously not an ethos which puts people off –  and opinions polls such as the IEF/Ipsos MORI research, or the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey,  suggest that most families would like to see this intermingling continue during the school terms.  And we know that many schools do collaborate on a cross-community basis,  on projects largely underpinned by  local good will and philanthropic funding.

While any degree of social cohesion and any celebration of diversity are welcome, I have a problem with the current picture.  I’d acknowledge that initiatives which come from the grassroots may often produce more genuine relationships.   But whilst hundreds of these sharing education projects continue, they provide a fig leaf for a dysfunctional education structure.  The government is avoiding giving any clear message on collaboration and a shared future: parents and teachers can strive to give anti-sectarian messages but with most schools overwhelmingly representing one culture or the other, children see what amounts to state-endorsed segregation all around them.

One other issue which concerns me is that whilst charity in itself is generally agreed to be a good thing – making the giver a good person and bettering the lot of the receiver -
in wider terms,  I think it’s a fairly unhealthy relationship to be in. If the money for these projects came from the state, it wouldn’t be communities and schools getting handouts but a collective empowerment of taxpayers and citizens, where our money is spent on something we have demonstrated that we want.

But perhaps the most crucial issue in practical terms is that the philanthropic funding will not be available for ever. The state must surely step in and take over. It’s not as if this is asking for additional money from public coffers in hard times; more sharing in education means better use of resources, and more savings.  Children seem to be leading the way in their summer break;  but whatever the song says, school’s not out for ever, and it’s time the people holding the public purse-strings got down to work on a truly shared future.

Posted in Budget Cuts, CSI Strategy, Education, funding cuts, Integrated Education, integration, Ipsos MORI, Life and Times Survey, Parental Demand | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

How Shared Education Can Be A Way Forward For Those Left Behind

Posted on July 27, 2011 by IEF

By Baroness May Blood, as seen in the Belfast Telegraph, Monday 25th July 2011

The Troubles left many people in Northern Ireland with little to lose; and the peace process should have brought many gains. In most places it has done, but there is a hefty proportion of people who feel little material benefit from political progress and now, with the recession, they feel little hope for the future.

I can list some of the problems we now face: low academic achievement, especially among young Protestant males; discontent and in some cases anger and violence. It was so sad to see the eruption of rioting among young people who should be facing their adult years with hope and confidence.

We have to open the eyes of these young people to future possibilities and the broader and more open their experience of education, the easier this will be. It’s frustrating to think that almost 20 years ago there was a big push from the community leaders in the Shankill to have the area designated an “Education Action Zone”. But the project was parked just as we thought we would succeed, and since then we have seen an increase in the problems it was designed to target, and an increase in the cost of tackling them.

I would not deny that one of these problems is the sectarianism which still flares into aggression. This sectarianism has to be openly opposed, and that process should start with the young. I firmly believe that exposing children from an early age to a culture where difference is acknowledged and respected is crucial. Our elected politicians must take the lead; as long as our schools are, in practice, segregated along religious lines, any messages about sharing and equality are sent out in the context of statutory division.

A change in our system of schooling would affect these young lives in so many ways. Sharing resources means wider access to resources. This better use of the budget would mean ending the current duplication of services and accepting the sense in working together. This would lead to well-equipped schools and community hubs where libraries and leisure centres flourish instead of being run down or closed. Best practice in the classroom can be discussed and shared.

Education should be responsive to the needs of young people and the changing culture they are living in. We have good teachers who offer this, but they need good structures, properly resourced, to work in.

A classroom where diversity is respected means young people are comfortable in their own culture and identity. This then broadens horizons, whereas segregation allows people to look no further than the end of their street. Young people need to feel part of a wider world, where opportunities can be found or created.

I should point out that for some years, at grassroots, many people have been quietly reaching out to neighbours. It’s up to politicians to build on this and to follow the lead of the voters. A senior Tory at Westminster was derided for saying we were all in the recession together - but we are all in Northern Ireland together, we are all working through the peace process together, and to weather the economic storm all sections of the community must feel that we are moving to a better future together.

Posted in Budget Cuts, Department of Education, Education, Integrated Education, JOhn O'Dowd, religion, shared education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment