Dear Madam, - As reported in your paper last week (3rd April 2014),we, the members of Fermanagh Protestant Board of Education joined with members of the Board of Governors in making a presentation to parents regarding the proposals initiated by the Western Education and Library Board to open a new co-educational grammar school in Enniskillen which would be constituted as the result of closing both the Collegiate Grammar School and Portora Royal School. The newly formed school would provide grammar school education for 54% of all non denominational students in the county. We were heartened by many thoughtful questions we were asked after the presentations and by subsequent discussions which the presentations gave rise to.

We are very well aware that the proposals are challenging in many ways, but they have been subject to long discussion and analysis by the governors of this school who have unanimously indicated their support for the changes required.

The governors have considered also over a number of years the evidence and sincerely held judgments of those who oppose the proposed amalgamation. However it remains their belief that the proposals under discussion offer a set of arrangements which will benefit all young people presently in the controlled and Voluntary Grammar sector.

They are proud that the new school would be affirmed as a grammar school just as they are proud of the high achievements of the present schools. They believe that the proposed amalgamation of these two fine schools can only create an institution which will soon establish itself consistently as one of the best co-educational schools in these islands.

Another important consideration for us was the determination of the Maintained (Catholic) sector to rationalise the provision in Enniskillen of post-primary education. This will result in the establishment of two single-sex, all-ability grammar schools serving all children who wish to attend a faith school in the town. Both these schools will be richly resourced and will be served by excellent facilities, either newly built or recently refurbished.

We believe that the proposed amalgamation of the Collegiate and Portora Royal, coupled with a new build and constitution for Devenish College, will offer those in the non- denominational sector parallel opportunities for curricular breadth and variety and for rich, planned and sustainable extra-curricular activities.

Indeed, by our support for these proposals, we wish to ensure equality of provision across the sectors, and by seeking co-education for our children, we wish to ensure equality of opportunity across the genders.

It was in an attempt to convey this information to all households in Fermanagh that the Board of Portora Royal school decided to take the unusual step of mailing to every household a leaflet setting out the reasons for our support for change. While many who received the leaflet will regard it as irrelevant to them, we would respectfully suggest that the proposals are not just about amalgamating two small schools but are also about the future of education in the county for generations to come.

On a previous occasion, our chairman wrote to this paper welcoming the contributions to the debate over the proposals. Your letter page last week was testimony to the interest that has been generated as the consultations progress. It was disappointing that some of the statements contained in the letters were inaccurate and reflected a lack of understanding of roles and procedures within the conduct of schools and schooling. The correspondent whose letter was signed “Anti-Amalgamation” is entirely wrong if he or she thinks that the Fermanagh Protestant Board of Education has any authority over the Collegiate at all, much less to the extent of closing it. The legal authority in relation to the Collegiate Grammar School is the Western Education and Library Board.

Similarly, in another letter ( itself in response to a letter from the Headmaster) it is important to remember that both Portora Royal and the Collegiate Grammar School are within the non-denominational sector and accept pupils from all faiths and none. We appreciate that the world of education and the regulations surrounding it can be very complex and misunderstandings can arise.

We think that it is also important at this stage in the discussion to express our wholehearted agreement with those who oppose the proposed amalgamation that this is not a “done deal”. The governors of Portora Royal School have no more idea than anyone else what the eventual decision by the Minister of Education will be. We know that the proposal must be either accepted or rejected and that it cannot be amended by the Department or the Minister.

Of course we speak as people who support the proposal and any optimism we have rests on what we believe are the educational merits of the case. Yours faithfully, The Rt Rev J McDowell (Chairman) Mr G Moore (Secretary) Mr M Coalter, Mr J Dickey, Mr S Fallis, Mrs D Frazer, The Very Rev K Hall, Mr P Little, Mr S B Morrow, Mr H Robinson