Vol. 404 No. 9
70 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Education the plans, if any, she has to promote co-operation between schools in Northern and Southern Ireland; the allocation of money she has made for any such co-operation and contact; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Schools in the North and South as well as in Britain, France, Belgium and Germany are already cooperating in the European Studies (Ireland and Great Britain) Project. The aim of the project is to encourage pupils in the participating schools to explore the shared elements and the rich diversity in their historical and environmental heritage in a local and a wider European context. The project is co-funded by the Departments of Education in Belfast, London and ourselves and a contribution is made by the Commission of the European communities.
The Department of Education in Belfast and ourselves are also co-funding schools North and South which are co-spending in an environmental education project and a teacher exchange programme.
Expenditure by my Department on all of these initiatives in 1991 will amount to about £200,000.
On 6 February Lord Belstead, Deputy Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and myself jointly launched, in Dublin, a pack of teaching materials entitled "From Conflict to Co-operation". This pack focuses on the historical events leading to the conflict in Ireland in 1690. It reflects a collaborative approval to the teaching of history and marks a new departure of the two Departments working together to produce teaching materials for use in second level schools North and South.
