Chairman's Remarks
As Chairman of the Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education, I welcome you to this website.
These are exciting days for all involved in education in Northern Ireland. Everyone involved in schools wishes to develop a good education system.
Within the Catholic sector we work from a clear philosophy of education which focuses on the full development of the individual as a service to the Common Good.
We are committed to developing new structures which will deliver a quality education for all young people and contribute to a just, cohesive society made up of sustainable communities.
It is clear from all the data that schools with a clear and explicit faith-based ethos are uniquely able to produce the highest educational and social outcomes.
This website is intended to help you understand how the Catholic-managed sector (with 550 schools it is the largest education provider in Northern Ireland) is engaging with Government policies that have followed from the Post-Primary Review Working Group, led by Steve Costello and published in January 2004.
This major re-examination of Post-Primary education will be successful to the extent that all the parties in Catholic education – parents, children, school staff, Principals, Governors and Trustees – are involved with the process. I hope that this website will help you with that engagement.
Our schools are entering this process in a strategic and confident manner. We have a uniquely successful education to offer. We seek only to be allowed to continue to make that contribution.
