The launch of a new project which will increase the skills and confidence levels of all post-primary school teachers who are teaching in shared classrooms was launched today (Thursday 29th March) at a conference in Armagh.

The International Fund for Ireland’s Sharing Classrooms: Deepening Learning project is a three year initiative which is being managed by the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) and is designed to help teachers create an inclusive environment in increasingly diverse classrooms.

Over the next three years, NICIE will provide training and support for schools and teachers, to equip them to work creatively, imaginatively and yet sensitively in the shared classrooms of today and in the future.

The conference launch was attended by more than 100 delegates from across the educational sector and heard keynote speeches from David Graham OBE, Board Member of the International Fund for Ireland, Noreen Campbell, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education and Mr Mike Nesbitt MLA and Vice Chairperson of the Education Committee.

David Graham OBE, Board Member of the International Fund for Ireland, said: “The Sharing Classrooms: Deepening Learning Project is the latest in a series of ground breaking initiatives to be launched as part of our wider Sharing in Education Programme.

“The Fund along with the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education and others have long been exponents of the virtues of sharing education – not just for the educational benefits that can be derived from such a system of educating our young people together but for the wider societal benefits it can bring in helping us to create a truly shared society here in Northern Ireland.

"Sharing education can bring with it its own unique set of challenges – ensuring all pupils involved in the sharing feel welcome, ensuring that where pupils from different schools and different traditions are brought together there is real mixing taking place.

"The launch of today’s project is designed to overcome those challenges and is therefore a further step along the road in helping to make sharing in our schools far from a project and more a way of life.

Noreen Campbell, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) said: “NICIE is proud to be associated with the Sharing Classrooms: Deepening Learning Project and values the importance of its work.

"In a society which has suffered historic division, education has a powerful role to play in overcoming barriers and in developing understanding and mutual respect. Increasingly our young people are sharing education, learning alongside each other in classrooms through Area Learning Community partnerships or Sharing Education partnerships.

"The Sharing Classrooms: Deepening Learning project aims to build on the opportunities created when young people from different schools come together to learn in one classroom. Its aim is to deepen that learning so that students are learning about each other and from each other as well as learning with each other.

"This is a teacher driven project through which teachers develop the confidence and skills to create the open learning environment in which division  can be addressed and diversity celebrated.”

Mr Mike Nesbitt MLA, Vice Chairman of the Education Committee said: "I would like us all to agree that our long-term aim is for a single education system, but to get there will take time, so the interim step is to maximise sharing. If we want the best for our children, we should recognise you learn more from those with whom you have differences, and that you can share respectfully and with interest, without compromise to your own values."

The Fund’s Sharing in Education Programme seeks to break down barriers from Northern Ireland’s historic conflict by providing a range of opportunities for young people to learn and work together. To date over £16m has been invested in SiEP which was launched in 2008.

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