Letter to the Press. November 2010

The people of N Ireland want to escape from their sectarian past. They made that abundantly clear when they voted by a huge majority in favour of the Belfast Agreement.

Our divided and divisive education system is part of that sectarian past. It is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Our children need to mix together and learn how to get on together. They have to meet people from across the sectarian divide and, hopefully, make friends. They cannot do that in a religiously segregated system.

Those  who support segregation do so for a variety of reasons, some  understandable, some deplorable. But surely the needs of our whole  society and the general desire to ensure a lasting peace must take  priority?

What we must create is a shared education system, one which acknowledges the social  and cultural needs of all our children. Instead of segregation and  mono-culture in separate schools, our education system should deliver  skills, knowledge and experiences which will enrich the pupils' lives  and teach them to value the culture and aspirations of others - not just  'the other side', but all the outlooks and ways of life found in our  society. Our schools should offer all our children the opportunity to  learn about Irish, British, European and world cultures. Their teachers  should come from a wide range of backgrounds and their fellow pupils  should be equally diverse.  That would be an education system looking to  the future, instead of repeating past mistakes.

The Assembly  will prove its worth if it rises to this great challenge. Our  politicians must leave behind narrow sectional interests and work  together to establish an education system which will contribute to the  re-creation of N Ireland as a stable, tolerant and harmonious society  where the children grow up together and learn from daily contact how to  live as neighbours.

Les Reid
Chair
Belfast Humanist Group