Shared education programmes have changed peoples' lives

Julie Kenwell • Published 26 May 2011 13:00 Comments 1 Comment

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PEOPLE who, to date, have not been personally involved in the Fermanagh Trust's Shared Education Programme had the opportunity to hear first hand how it has changed people's lives during an Evening of Exploration and Entertainment at the Clinton Centre on Tuesday night.

The event, which was organised by the Churches Forum to mark Community Relations Week, afforded the chance to spread the good news about what Shared Education in the County has already achieved in its short two-year existence.

Personal experiences from schools which have reaped the benefits of the forward-thinking project were provided to the audience by school principals and pupils from various areas.

A DVD exhibiting some of the work completed by the Derrygonnelly Primary School and Killyhommon P.S. Boho partnership was displayed, whilst students from Collegiate Grammar and Devenish College spoke to the audience about the enrichment programme, facilitated by Fermanagh Trust, which allows them to go to other secondary schools to learn and work together.

Entertainment was also provided by the two primary schools in Tempo, who have collectively formed a brass band through the programme, and pupils from Erne Integrated and St Michael's College in Enniskillen performed on the keyboard and guitar. According to Fermanagh Church Forum representative, Tanya Jones, the evening was a resounding success.

"It went very well, it was very well attended. There were quite a lot of people there who are connected to education in some way, such as school principals and staff, plus parents and so on, but there were also people who are members of the Churches Forum and quite a lot of people who maybe have not heard about Shared Education until now."

"The discussion centred on how Shared Education can develop in the future. Particularly, in view of problems with school enrolments going down, the importance of schools being at the centre of rural communities was discussed. There is a fear that if a community was to lose it's local school it would be difficult to hold on to other facilities, like the local post office, as well. The fact that more political parties are now referring to the idea of shared education and the need for schools to work together was also mentioned and whether what's happening in Fermanagh can be used as a model for action else where in Northern Ireland. People felt that it would be good if the new Education Minister could look at what is being done here and find inspiration for action else where," she explained.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 26 May 11

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chriswrights
4 posts
Jun 23, 14:46
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I would love to find out more about how Shared Education can develop in the future. It is pertinent to get school enrollments to increase rather than decrease. I would hope that a community wouldn't lose it's local school, post office, etc... We really need to work together to support schools and make education prosper.

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