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treated equally. We are not trying
to put over that a hoy is exactly the
same phys io logically as a girl.
What we are trying to put over is
that they have equal responsibil ity
in society.
All boys and girls, up to and
including the entry to state exami–
nations, are taught home economy.
Domestic economy, cooking and
washing and al! the rest of it. Sec–
ondly, all boys and girls do elemen–
tary crafts like woodwork and
metalwork. All boys and girls do
junior science; all boys and girls do
art and design.
Q: How do you teach history here,
in view of the fact that t here are
two traditions and two cultures
exi sting side by slde in Northern
lreland?
A: H istory is taught as history, not
as legend or myth. The history
teaching is taught on the basis of
actual· Irish history, the history of
the British Isles and the history of
the world. No punches are pulled.
Q: How are you financed? Do you
get grants f rom t he state? What
are y our prospects for fu ture
financ ing? 1 underst and the stu–
dent f ees were high.
A: As of the lst April , 1984, there
are no fees for any child at the
school. Before the 1st April , 1984,
the school existed totally on volun–
tary contributions from al! our
friends all over the world in many
countries. But parents had to pay up
to 600 pounds per year per child.
Now we would like to underline
that all parents did not have to pay
this amount. Sorne parents, in fact,
paid nothing. There was a bursary
system instituted right at the outset
of the school's existence, so that par–
ents who were not in a position to
pay for their children at the school
were given a bursary and the matter
ended there.
Q:
Are Catholic and Prot est ant par·
ent s of your schoolchildren work ·
ing together acti vely? What do t he
parents do to help out schools in
Northern l reland-particularly t his
one?
A: [n Northern lreland there are
PTAs at most schools. But most
schools in Northern Ireland are
segregated into P rotestant or Cath-
28
olic
ípso jacto.
In Lagan College
the parents are by the nature of the
college both Protestant and Catho–
lic. 1 have never seen parents so
active in helping the school-and
my experience in this matter goes
over a long number of years.
lt
is most refreshing to attend a
parents' council meeting or to
attend any of the many meetings or
entertainments which we have at
the school. Protestant and Catholic
parents as well as uncles and aunts,
granddads, grandmothers- all par–
ticipate in the activities. Parental
concern is a cornerstone of the foun–
dation of the school.
The parents' council in this school
supports al! kinds of school activi–
ties.
It
is a body which is composed
ofProtestant and Catholic members.
There is no question of any differen–
tiation and at the meetings of the
council, it is quite impossible to tell
who is a Catholic and who is a Prot–
estant. That's the way we like to have
it.
Q: How does the educat ional com·
ml!nity-the regular schools here
in Northern lreland-view your
activities?
A: Our acceptance within the com–
munity of schools in the province is
good. No doubt at the beginning
there were doubts. When the col–
lege was started the demographic
trends for pupils in schools were not
very auspicious in that schools were
closing because of falling rolls, and
therefore teachers were becoming
unemployed.
There was at that t ime a feeling,
no doubt, that Lagan College would
be taking pupils from specific areas
and that teachers who were teaching
in those schools in those areas might
lose their jobs. This, in fact, hasn't
been so. For Lagan College takes its
chi ldren from a very wide catch–
ment area that covers hundreds of
primary schools and many, many
secondary schools.
Q:
Do you think this unique experi–
ment will eventually spread to the
rest of Nor thern l reland?
A: The movement that set up Lagan
College at the behest of those 28 par–
ents in 1981 is called the Al! Chil–
dren Together Movement.
It
has
been in existence from the early sev–
enties and it is a body which is
endeavoring to introduce shared
education within the province by the
consent of parents. Now those words
are very important to
us-by the
consent of parents.
We believe that
parental consent is vital in the propa–
gation of integrated schooling.
As
I
said earlier, the times are
difficult for this operation in that
the demographic trends in schools
show declining rolls. Al! of this
makes people ask why we want
another type of school. Our answer
is that we believe that in the long
run- not tomorrow, perhaps not in
the next 20 years-the efforts
made to integrate the teaching of
our chi ldren will pay off.
Protestant chi ldren will discover
that Roman Catholic children are
the same as their friends in Protes–
tant schools and Roman Catholic
children will feel exactly the same
about Protestant children.
We believe also that if we can
integrate our children in schools,
our parents, our uncles and aunts,
granddads and al! the rest will
eventually become integrated. This
is not so in Nor thern Ireland at the
moment. There are many, many
children who are brought up in
either Roman OÚholic maintained
schools or controlled
ípso jacto
Protestant schools, who, in fact ,
never ever meet Protestant or
Roman Catholic children.
We feel that this situation allows
chi ldren to have a distorted view of
d ifferent denominations.
1
Q:
How do your t eachers here feel
about this unique experiment? Do
t hey f eel a sense o f enthusiasm?
Do teachers from different back–
ground& get on well together?
A: Viewing it from the point ofview
of someone who has been very clase
to the school, 1 can say the teachers
get on extremely well together. In
fact, it is never discussed. The prime
requirement of a teacher coming toa
school like this is commitment. And
1 believe that every single teacher in
this school has commitment. The
teachers have supported the gover–
nors of the school and the trustees of
the Al! Chi ldren Together Move–
ment magnificently.
Q:
Are t he students themselves get–
ting on together? ls the experiment
(Contínued on page 42)
The PLAIN TRUTH