The Orange Order has written to the Department
of Education saying that plans for schools in Northern Ireland
discriminate against Protestants.
The letter came from the Order's Committee for
Educational Affairs.
It said the Institution was writing to express
concern at recent developments which many members of the Loyal
Orange Institution believed would remove Christian influence
in the form of the Protestant denominations from schools in
Northern Ireland.
The letter went:
"We believe that the equality screening process in relation
to Policy Paper 5 was flawed and that the Minister is intent
on removing a large number of governors nominated to the controlled
schools by the Protestant churches. We are also aware that
all controlled secondary schools and possibly a third of all
controlled primary schools would be affected.
"We believe that the screening process
was inadequate and unjust in that the state schools will lose
their Church representation by right while the Roman Catholic
Church representation will remain unchanged on grant maintained
schools, which we understand are also funded 100% by state
funds.
"Such a move discriminates against the
Protestant community.
"It is the opinion of this committee that
the minister, in conjunction with the Department of Education
and the Education Committee at Stormont, should ensure that
representation from the various Protestant churches is not
diminished on boards of governors of state schools so that
a Christian ethos is protected.
"Moreover, with such fundamental changes
being proposed we believe that the Minister's new framework
for Education should be subjected to a full equality impact
assessment.
"We are currently examining the recent
proposals made by the Minister and will be making a full response
after consulting with out members."
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