Given the NI Executive’s continued commitment to Shared Education, the commitments made in the Sharing Works policy document and building on the learning from recent funded Shared Education programmes, the Department has worked with key stakeholders on the plans for the future development of Shared Education.
On 21 September 2022, Education Minister Michelle McIlveen launched the Mainstreaming Shared Education Strategy which sets out the long-term vision and plans for embedding Shared Education throughout the Northern Ireland education system. The Strategy aims to create the conditions to enable partnership working across religious and socio-economic divides and seeks to establish Shared Education as a core feature of educational provision in Northern Ireland that is affordable, sustainable and accessible to all. Extending the reach of Shared Education will help to provide opportunities for all children and young people to benefit from those shared learning experiences.
The Mainstreaming Shared Education Strategy and the related Executive Summary documents can be accessed via the links below:
Implementation of the Strategy will be via phased delivery plans. Funding, subject to available budgets, will be provided to support pupil engagement and the delivery of the Strategy.