Grant Programme Supports Reconciliation through Education
 
Schools promoting a culture of trust and developing paths of reconciliation through education are being invited to share in a £150,000 grant programme. The IEF launched a new round of the Promoting a Culture of Trust (PACT) programme on Monday 22 February. 
 
The PACT programme was first launched in 2000 and for the last ten years has been supporting projects in schools of differing levels and management types across Northern Ireland. The IEF has already awarded a total of £729,917 in PACT grants to 174 projects involving 397 schools and directly involving and benefiting approximately 12,000 children.
 
The grant programme is open to all schools inNorthern Ireland, as well as organisations and groups working within schools.
 
IEF Trustee Dorothee Wagner said, “The aim of the programme is to promote relationships that enable schools, pupils, staff, governors and the wider community to increase their understanding, acceptance and respect for political, cultural and religious differences. 
 
We are committed to making the funding accessible to as many people as possible. The success of PACT and the growing interest in the programme is testimony to the determination that exists in schools across Northern Ireland to undertake vital cross-community work.”
 
PACT projects must explore the differences between the Catholic and Protestant denominations but may also explore other divisions experienced in Northern Ireland. For example some previous projects have tackled issues of division by looking at the diversity of religions, languages, and ethnicities represented in Northern Ireland today. 
 
As the PACT programme funds school-based projects it can add value to existing school links including those funded under the Department of Education’s Schools Community Relations Programme (SCRP) and can also fund projects which may not be eligible for funding under the SCRP. For example, PACT funding is available for parents, staff and governors, as well as pupils to take part in and benefit from projects.
 
PACT projects can be linked to the curriculum areas of ‘Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community’ at Foundation Level and Key Stages 1 and 2, and ‘Local and Global Citizenship’ at Key Stages 3 and 4. Project mediums such as sport, music, art, history and drama etc can provide opportunities to involve greater ranges and/or numbers of participants as well as adding more depth and meaning to the project for participants.