The General Synod has heard of the complexities surrounding education in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland this afternoon.

Presenting the report of the Board of Education (RI) the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton, said the organisation of schools was “a challenging crucible of confusion to many” as well as being an immense privilege and trust. He said there were many sources of regulation of schools. New legislation and its implications for schools is outlined in the report.

“It is a bewildering and in many ways it is an inaccessible world into which are thrown teachers whose primary vocation is to teach and into which are thrown clergy whose primary vocation is preaching the Gospel and pastoral ministry,” the Bishop said adding that the Church was indebted to all who work within these structures. He also thanked the staff in the education department both North and South as well as those in interlinked departments.

The Bishop said that the financial resources invested in the work on education in the Republic of Ireland were relatively small. He added that research projects were also important. He highlighted the clarity that the Secondary Education Committee had received on the Block Grant.

Points raised during discussion on the RI report included:
• Encouragement to people to take their schools seriously and not rely solely on the Follow Me programme.
• Fear for the future of schools when many are designated disadvantaged. A knock on affect is that those schools not designated disadvantaged are asking for voluntary contributions where disadvantaged schools are not. Their technology costs are not paid where disadvantaged schools’ are.
• The Board of Education was congratulated on its role in advocating for small rural schools.
• Is there guidance on whether chairs of boards of management, the Board of Education and the RCB need to register as lobbyists under new regulations.
• One teacher schools should not become an acceptable reality – they are a bad idea.
• With the incorporation of CICE within DCU progressing, imaginative use for the campus of CICE for the benefit of the whole church should be found. In response, Geoffrey Perrin said a planning group had been set up for the future use of the CICE campus.

The Bishop of Derry, the Rt Revd Ken Good, presented the NI Board of Education report said the complexity of education in Northern Ireland was remarkable and was labyrinthine in its structures. He gave details of the background to education structures in Northern Ireland with the maintained, controlled, voluntary, Irish medium and integrated sector.

The Bishop said he thought 2014 was a milestone year for education in Northern Ireland which resulted in one education authority instead of five library boards. There was also funding agreed for a controlled sector support body, he said. There were also moves towards shared and jointly managed church schools where two schools of different traditions in an area might not be viable but could come together to form one school under joint management.

Bishop Good paid tribute to Dr Ian Ellis who has moved on to pastures new and welcomed Dr Peter Hammill as secretary to the Board of Education NI.

Points raised during the discussion on the Northern Ireland report included:
• Thanks were expressed to Dr Ian Ellis.
• There were warnings about cut backs in education.
• The work of the Children’s Ministry Network, the Sunday School Society and Building Blocks Conference was highlighted.
• The Controlled Schools Support Council was welcomed.
• Controlled schools are often defined by what they aren’t rather than by what they are and their ethos is poorly articulated. But the reality on the ground is very different.

The Report of the Boards of Education was accepted.

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