The IEF welcomes the most recent Ulster University (UU) ‘Transforming Education’ briefing paper ‘All change? The Impact of Fair Employment Legislation on Sectoral Patterns of Teacher Deployment.
The IEF welcomes the most recent Ulster University (UU) ‘Transforming Education’ briefing paper ‘All change? The Impact of Fair Employment Legislation on Sectoral Patterns of Teacher Deployment.’
The UU ‘Transforming Education’ project is aimed at stimulating debate among educationalists, decision-makers and the wider public and this is the 23rd and final paper to be produced in the series.
This paper sets out to explore the impact of the NI Fair Employment (School Teachers) Act (NI) 2022 and the removal of the exception of teachers from protection under fair employment legislation and to assess the current levels of diversity in school staffrooms.
Dr Matt Milliken, principal author of the paper, said:
“The paper confirms that, since the Act took effect in May 2024, there has been little progress by employing authorities in monitoring the community background of applicants for teaching posts and existing staff, or in reviewing and reporting on teaching workforces to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).
As the UU briefing paper shows, the completion rates of Equality Monitoring Forms to date are disappointingly low in schools and the available data therefore fails to provide us with a complete picture of the composition of the teaching workforce. The data that is available, however, provides an indication that the representation of teachers from a Catholic background remains very small in Controlled schools, while the proportion of teachers from a Protestant background in Catholic Maintained schools continues to be minimal.”
Paul Caskey OBE, Chief Executive of the Integrated Education Fund, observed:
“The findings from this research briefing suggests that the Department of Education and the teacher-employing authorities could benefit from undertaking a comprehensive review regarding the implementation of the NI Fair Employment (School Teachers) Act (NI) 2022. We also urge them to promote and encourage effective monitoring of the teaching workforce in schools, in line with the requirements of NI Fair Employment legislation.”
The 23rd Transforming Education briefing paper, ‘All change? The Impact of Fair Employment Legislation on Sectoral Patterns of Teacher Deployment’ will be distributed to politicians, key stakeholders and influencers.
