Inequality, segregation and poor performance: The education system in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is now a post-conflict society but one of the legacies
of the “troubles” is an education system which is defined by religious
affiliation/identity. A parallel system of schools continues to exist
where Catholics largely attend “maintained” schools and Protestants
“controlled” or state schools. While segregation along religious
grounds is the most obvious fault line in Northern Ireland schools,
more insidious problems of access and performance inequalities exist
which have been overshadowed by efforts to improve community
relations between children and promote integrated education. This
article uses school leavers’ data to examine the nature of inequality
in schools and consider an alternative policy option for tackling
inequality and segregation, respectively.