AQW 17184/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 13/04/2021
Answered On Date: 20/04/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to outline (i) how Shared Education outcomes are measured; and (ii) what evidence is there that the concept has delivered its aims of community cohesion.

Answer:

Under the Shared Education Act (NI) 2016, the Department of Education is required to lay a report before the Assembly every two years on the operation of the Act and section 2(3) of the Education Act (NI) 2014.

Two reports have been laid to date, both of which can be accessed via https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/what-shared-education.

As required by the Act, the reports include statements on the extent to which the purpose of Shared Education has been achieved. Information on the impact of Shared Education is obtained from a range of sources including regularly scheduled surveys and reports, supplemented by evaluations, and research papers linked to Shared Education funded programmes.

Section 5 of the latest report, Advancing Shared Education 2nd report to the Northern Ireland Assembly published in June 2020, summarises information obtained from the 2018 Young Life and Times and Kids Life and Times surveys outlining the impact of Shared Education on promoting good relations, respect for identity, diversity and community cohesion.