NORTHERN IRELAND Education

GREAT OPINION PIECE WRITTEN BY A STUDENT FRUSTRATED OVER THE FOOT-DRAGGING ON THE LEGAL COMMITMENT TO FOSTER INTEGRATED SCHOOLING

Guardian.

NI SCHOOLS SUED FOR RELIGIOUS INDOCTRINATION (News Letter, Nov 2021)

The big issues in NI education are:

- the role of the church and segregation on religious lines (the Catholic church runs many schools, though they are state-funded, while many 'state' schools are largely Protestant - with religious assemblies but no Protestant church involvement); integrated schools with no religious demographic are STILL a small majority

- selection/grammar schools. NI children mostly have to sit entry exams aged 11 (the 'eleven-plus') in order to get into a grammar school. Those who fail will have access to a narrower range of academic subjects and sit foundation GCSEs, maximum grade C/5. SDLP, Alliance, SF all oppose selection by test.

Other issues:

- the History syllabus is always going to be contested

- likewise the texts/writers chosen for the English/Literature syllabus

- Citizenship/PSE become controversial in NI too, with the ultra-conservative DUP plus Catholic church opposed to teaching elements of basic sexual and reproductive health 

- the status of Irish language, which is traditionally compulsory in Catholic schools but not taught in state schools

MOMENTUM BEHIND INTEGRATED AS 69% SUPPORT END TO RELIGIOUSLY SEGREGATED SCHOOLS

Guardian article shows that behind the negative headlines a more integrated NI is emerging.

THE UK PICTURE - 20%!!!!

I usually avoid Fiona Millar's opinion pieces, but there's a statistic in there that was an eye opener to me - a full '20% of pupils in England feel the impact of the 11-plus tests'.

JANUARY 2021: ROW OVER 11+ COVID CANCELLATIONS

This is brewing into a big row, with the DUP blocking attempts by SF, SDLP and Alliance to order the cancellation of all of these, as in this BBC article (here's another opinion piece on the 11+ exam from Belfast Telegraph, including its history). Since my schooldays an already questionable system has intensified - most kids now sit multiple tests in formal exam conditions from two exam boards on multiple Saturdays, and pay for the privilege of this extreme stress and life-changing judgement of young children. 

My memory of this is the whole final year of primary school being centred on preparing for this test - and being alone in my circle of friends in passing it, meaning we went to different secondary schools. As with A-Level exams (as distinct from coursework, which the Con government/Michael Gove have sought to undermine and minimise) there is a clear link between social class and success, with many middle-class parents paying for additional private tuition outside of school.

I credit my younger sister HB here for briefing me on how it works today - but also note that I get a lot of useful stories and updates through my Google news feed: if you open the Google app and look down you'll have a customisable news feed.

This came through that news feed - an article about (non-sectarian) street/wall art/murals in Belfast, known for the Provo/UVF displays but actually now home to increasing art displays. That development certainly struck me on my last pre-covid stay in Belfast. 

Above - two images from July 2019 trip to show that, 11+ notwithstanding, there is social change in NI. Non-sectarian public art is flourishing while the traditional boundary marking red/white/blue or green/white/orange kerbstone painting is joined by rainbow kerbs marking a recognised LGBT+ corner. Teaching anything that promotes non-binary or non-hetero as normal remains highly contentious in the NI schooling system decades after Thatcher's Clause 28 was ditched by PM John Major.

4 KEY POLICY AREAS: immigration

THE 4 POLICY AREAS TO TRACK

Education

Environment

Economy

Immigration

Keep up to date notes on the major NI (SDLP, Sinn Fein, Alliance, UUP, DUP) and UK (Lab, Tory, Lib Dem) parties policies on these specific areas.

COURTS RULE HOME OFFICE ACTING ILLEGALLY AGAIN. SECRET NEW POLICY?

Guardian.

HOME SECRETARY TO BLOCK VISAS FOR COUNTRIES REFUSING TO ACCEPT RETURNED IMMIGRANTS

Guardian

UK THREATENS TO SEND IMMIGRANTS BACK TO EU COUNTRY THEY TRAVELLED FROM ... BUT THAT BREAKS INTERNATIONAL LAW + NO EU NATION WILL ACCEPT THEM (BBC)

Note also the return to a quota system; specific number limit/target which Blair brought in and Tories have kept repeating in manifestoes despite consistent failure to meet their targets.

UK insist that the first safe country a migrant reaches must be where they claim asylum.

UK PULLS OUT OF MEDITERRANEAN RESCUE SHIP SCHEME (Guardian)

There have been other such policies which lead to international condemnation: initially refusing to take in refugees from Calais (750 children were eventually taken in)

The left-wing v right-wing split on this is very simple, and very clearly reflected in newspaper coverage too. The 'hostile environment' that Theresa May brought in when Home Secretary (before she was PM), to make things as tough as possible for asylum seekers to put them off from coming here, is a big, ongoing story.

The UK government has repeatedly been found guilty of illegal practices linked to this, notably their deportations of many of the Windrush generation of Carribbean immigrants originally invited here

LEFT-WING

Broadly supportive of the right of asylum seekers to claim refuge in the UK

Support the right of foreign family members of immigrants to join them in the UK

Emphasize the positive economic benefit of immigrants

Celebrate multiculturalism as another positive impact

Oppose integration requirements like compulsory English and citizenship (knowledge, attitudes)

- reject the extent (if not the general need) of police/secret service scrutiny of Muslim communities for extremists/terrorists

Oppose immigration limits or links to income

- BUT concerned about economic migration from eastern European migrants undermining wage levels and working conditions

- BUT former leader Ed Miliband is typical of more 'centrist' Labour leaders (like Starmer???) with his notorious Controls on Immigration mug (condemned by the left-winger Diane Abbott)

-- Labour strategists argue they need a tougher line on immigration to win popular support, as demonstrated by the Brexit defeat

RIGHT-WING

Seek to restrict and undermine rights under international law to claim asylum in the UK

- aggressive policy to stop migrants from crossing UK borders (especially from Calais, France)

- restrict asylum seekers' right to work OR claim benefits OR use public services (especially healthcare: NHS)

- opposed EU efforts to divide Syrian asylum seekers through national quotas

- work with authoritarian regimes like Erdigan in Turkey to prevent migrants from reaching the EU

Opposed to allowing family members of legal immigrants to join them in UK

Emphasis on immigrants as an economic drain, putting strain on public services (schools, NHS)

See multiculturalism as wrong and harmful expression of political correctness, celebrate and promote a notional traditional British identity

Support compulsory integration measures like English lessons (oppose use of translators as waste of public money) and citizenship tests

- particularly concerned about the separatism/failure to integrate or accept/adopt British values of Muslim communities

- linked to this, strong police/secret service powers to monitor these communities for extremists or terrorists

Support annual limits on immigration (though consistently fail to meet these targets)

- much controversy over how this impacts the NHS, farming, universities and the sporting/cultural sectors

- favour income/wealth tests

NEWS STORIES 2021

TORIES LOVE IMMIGRATION!

When immigration matches up to other nationalist policies, in this case trying to look strong against China, even the most anti-immigration party can suddenly find some enthusiasm. PM Johnson has announced a programme to welcome potentially 10s of 1000s Hong Kong citizens, knowing this will greatly antagonise China - but please America in doing so. Guardian.

NEWS STORIES 2020

DECEMBER

PRITI PATEL DISMISSES LETTER BY 80 BLACK CRITICS CALLING FOR JAMAICA DEPORTATION FLIGHT CANCELLATION 'DO-GOODING CELEBRITIES'

IMMIGRATION LAWYERS REPORT MORE DEATH THREATS

Guardian details on the flights, campaign letters, death threats and Labour's opposition - though very low profile. Starmer isn't making this an issue, possibly further evidence that he's avoiding anything that seems clearly left-wing and would attract flak from the press. He's planning not even to vote against any Brexit deal, which is strongly linked to anti-immigration rhetoric and sentiment, though may be forced to drop this approach with a huge rebellion likely.

You can read the utterly different Daily Mail report, which mocks "leftie lawyers", here.

NOV

EHRC DECLARES HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT ILLEGAL

Yet another blow for the Tory tough stance on immigration. 

The Home Office broke equalities law when it introduced its hostile environment immigration measures, a critical report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has concluded.

The department now has a legal duty to review these policies to ensure they are not racially discriminatory, and that they comply with equalities legislation, the rights body announced. 

In the latest damning report on the Home Office’s record in relation to its hostile environment policies and the Windrush scandal, the EHRC study detected “a lack of commitment” within the Home Office to the importance of equality.

The report found “there was a narrow focus on delivering the political commitment of reducing immigration, and a culture where equality was not seen as important. Identifying risks to equality was therefore not encouraged.”

A series of hostile environment policies were introduced by Theresa May from 2012 during a drive to bring down net migration; the measures made it harder for people without documentation proving their right to be in the UK to get jobs, rent properties, access healthcare and open bank accounts. Large numbers of people who had the right to live in the UK, but no documentation, were adversely affected by the policies.

(Guardian).

HOME SECRETARY FOUND GUILTY BY COURTS OF IGNORING OFFICIAL POLICY

Priti Patel is a very controversial Home Secretary, previously sacked for secret meetings with Israeli officials, facing multiple accusations of bullying, repeatedly found guilty by the courts of breaching migrants' rights.

Equally true, she is a very popular figure on the right with her tough stance on immigration and asylum seekers, and her condemnations of 'lefty lawyers' who defend migrant rights (despite the legal profession warning about death threats that this caused).

So, this is far from the first ruling against her. She was ordered to stop the deportation of 3 asylum seekers. Guardian: The deportation of hundreds of asylum seekers who arrived in the UK on small boats could be halted after a judge ruled that the home secretary was departing from her own policy on identifying victims of trafficking.

...

PROTEST ENVIRONMENT police Prevent strategy

So - schoolchildren who take part in the climate school strike are being potentially added to a list of extremists requiring government surveillance...

Extinction Rebellion could sue police over extremist ideology listing (Guardian)

Charities and campaigners are being undermined by right-wing media/politician attacks (what Chomsky's propaganda model calls flak) for being woke or politically correct, with the Tory government passing laws to restrict thire free speech too. Guardian, Jan 2021.