NI Council for Integrated Education

T he Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) was established in 1987, its role, to co-ordinate efforts to develop Integrated Education and to assist parent groups in opening new integrated schools.

By 1989 as a result of growing interest in Integrated Education outside of Belfast, a total of 10 integrated schools had been established across Northern Ireland. The fact that the integrated movement had both generated and funded its own central organising Council, in addition to growing enrolments at existing schools, contributed to a gradual increase in government support.
In 1989 the Education Minister, Brian Mawhinney, included specific reference to integrated schools in legislation and established more effective ways of setting up and funding new integrated initiatives. In addition the legislation offered provision for Northern Ireland´s existing schools to ´transform´ to integrated status. This 1989 Education Reform (NI) Order provided retrospective capital funding to integrated schools and helped lift much of the financial burden from parents and Boards of Governors, allowing them to concentrate on developing schools.

In 1991 NICIE, after consultation with all of the then existing integrated schools, agreed a ‘Statement of Principles’ which has underpinned the ethos and practice of Integrated Education ever since. The ‘Statement of Principles’ provides for religious balance in pupil enrolments, teaching staff and governors. New schools agree to these principles as a pre-requisite of NICIE support and assistance.

In the same year, the Department of Education, as part of its new statutory responsibility to encourage and facilitate Integrated Education, agreed to grant aid NICIE in its work.

What are our plans for the future and in which direction are we going?

Our plans for the future include taking a more proactive approach in partnership with Education boards to identify under represented areas, whilst looking to being more involved in terms of development of existing schools and curriculum support.  We are also taking a more strategic role in promoting transformation.