The training of Northern Ireland teachers in Education for Mutual Understanding is both patchy and sporadic, claims a working group set up by the education minister John McFall.
It points to the lack of joined-up thinking by government. Although improving community relations has been an official aim of the Department of Education since 1982, and EMU has been part of the curriculum for a decade, many teachers have received no training at all in this area.
Even the National Standards for the Professional Qualification for Headship fail to foster the development of a “culture of tolerance” or respect for diversity, says the report.
The group, chaired by Mr Gerry Kelly, recently-retired chief executive of the Southern Education and Library Board, recommends that this oversight should be corrected urgently.
