Education Task Group
The Education Task Group held a Conference meeting at the Lansdowne Hotel on 20th January 2011. Attendees included: Michael Clark, Consultant, Bishop Donal McKeown, Diocese of Down & Conner, Gavin Boyd, Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), Fr Myles Kavanagh, Chairman Flax Trust and John Patterson Chief Executive, Flax Trust, Fr Ciaran Dallat, Sacred Heart, Fr Devlin, St Vincent de Paul, Fr Gary Donegan, Holy Cross, as well as representatives from all the local primary, secondary and nursery schools. Representatives from the Ardoyne Association and the Ardoyne/Shankill Partnership were also in attendance.
The main speaker was Michael Clark who spoke about the work of the Education Task Group to transform the vision for education for North Belfast into a reality, the vital support of the Flax Trust in this work and the Trust’s endowment pledge of £10m if the vision was to be achieved. Speakers Bishop Donal McKeown and Gavin Boyd (CCEA) each gave their views on the future of education for North Belfast and both spoke very positively about the work of the Education Task Group. Bishop McKeown said that the 11+ exam was criminal because it rejected 80% of children at 11 who were never given the opportunity to repeat the exam and he saw the vision of an ‘all ability school’ as the way forward.
Education Within Their Own Community
It can be shown that children who are educated within their own community not only achieve better results but also give back more to the community.
The Education Task Force support the view that children should not have to travel to be educated and parents should not have to meet the costs of travel. Staying within the community and learning with others from the community will instill a sense of pride, not only for the children, but for their parents as well.
A school with strong leadership, integrated within its own community, will become a focal point for the area. After hours facilities such as extended adult learning, homework clubs and use of the sport facilities is a great benefit to the local community.