A report, commissioned by an Independent Unionist MLA, has found that
disadvantaged Catholics in Northern Ireland are twice as likely to go
to university as are disadvantaged Protestants.
The report, commissioned by former Progressive Unionist Party leader and East Belfast MLA Dawn Purvis, who is also chair of the Working Group on Educational Disadvantage among the Protestant Working Class,
found that working class Protestants are also twice as likely their
Catholic counterparts to leave school without any qualifications.
Ms Purvis, who established the working group, said, “While some
politicians in the Northern Executive may find this difficult or
inconvenient to deal with, the Northern Executive had (sic) an urgent
responsibility to tackle the problem.”
She went on to say that, “The statistics are damning, the facts are
undeniable and the trend clear for all to see. Young Protestant men are
underachieving, they are not going to university, and many leave school
without any qualifications and in an alarming number of cases without
acceptable numeracy, literacy and life skills.”
“The educational system fails them and so do the politicians who control how education is administered.”
Her calls were supported by Dr Peter Shirlow of the Law faculty at
Queens University in Belfast that led the research.
He said,
“Disadvantaged Catholics are twice as likely to attend University as
Protestants. The time for statistical analysis is gone.”
“Many working class Protestants were heavily involved in
manufacturing industry and viewed getting a trade as the main
educational requirement. With the collapse of the labour market this
has changed.”