The School Curriculum Ten Years Hence - UCET: Universities ...

The research predicts that such a profile leads almost certainly to
long-term unemployment at age 18. In this initiative only 20% were
unemployed at 18, the others re-engaged with education or training
or found employment. The provision in this community is certainly
making a difference!
To complete this list of examples:
• The first three people to attain the European Computer Driving
Licence in Northern Ireland were students who had left the formal
system and were re-engaged in education through a community
initiative - an initiative, by the way, with no funding from the public
service.
I agree with Susan’s analysis and, like others today, Northern
Ireland is able to provide examples of good practice. The good
practice is set within our policies of:
• The school improvement programme - support for all schools in NI
• The school support programme - intensive support for some
schools
• Group One schools - a handful of schools existing in areas of
multiple deprivation and which have experienced a period of longterm
civiI unrest
These programmes are well funded and have made a difference to
the quality of provision and standards being achieved. Nevertheless,
we have a distance to travel before we can be content with the
provision for all. Like Susan, I am not satisfied with the current
response to social inclusion, which may be characterised as too
often being:
• Ad hoc and reflecting the excellent provision in some but not all
schools, colleges and youth centres.
• An approach in terms of general discipline and not a supportive
individual pastoral programme.
• A short-term funding issue to deal with a problem of remediation,
as opposed to an integral aspect of the education system which
demands early and sensitive intervention, supported by adequate
funding and teacher training and development. Those of us who
have worked in such areas know only too well the demands on
teachers and others.
What therefore would I like to see and what are the implications for
the education system in general and for teacher education in
particular? In general terms there need to be:
• Acceptance of the need for alternative provision within the
mainstream education (education, not school) system. We need to