A decision not to fund an expansion of integrated education in Northern Ireland because of under capacity in Catholic and Protestant schools was slated today by a charity which provided funding for the scheme.
The Integrated Education Fund (IEF) said it would be providing financial backing of stg£750,000 to enable two schools in counties Down and Tyrone to open. At the same time they would continue to fund the fight by parents for an integrated school in a third area.
Earlier this month Northern Ireland Education Minister Angela Smith refused funding for the establishment of the schools saying there were surplus places in existing local schools.
She said while the government was committed to integrated education, it had a duty to manage the existing schools estate in the light of falling enrolments.
The IEF's David Heyworth, dismissed the argument saying surplus places should not act as an impediment to the growth of integrated education.
"It is not the fault of parents groups that there are empty desks in Catholic schools or empty desks in Protestant schools. It is simply not acceptable to tell families who want an integrated education to go to a segregated school," Mr Heyworth said.
The IEF's has decided aid the establishment of the Clogher Valley Integrated Primary School in Co Tyrone and a secondary school in the Saintfield/Carryduff area of Co Down, to be called the Rowallane Integrated College.
Both schools are due to open at the start of the new school year in September.
Integrated education is seen as a key way of breaking down community barriers in Northern Ireland, but such schools only educate just over 5 per cent of the North's pupils.
The first integrated school - Lagan College - opened in 1981 with 28 pupils. Such has been the demand that it now has 1,100 pupils - making it one of Northern Ireland's biggest schools.
PA