Ms Tina Merron:

If the committee so wished, I am sure the University of Ulster would be happy to update it on its future schools project and to present to it, but I will leave that up to the committee.

To respond to some of the other questions asked, there are 68 integrated schools, 20 post-primary and 48 primary, across Northern Ireland. There are two ways of creating an integrated school. One is to start a new school on a new greenfield site, which we talked about earlier. The second way is to get an existing school to undergo a process called transformation. Are all schools successful? The process of transformation takes time. It can take anything up to five to ten years to change the balance of the pupils and the teachers. It will automatically change the balance on the board of governors from the get-go. At that stage a transformation action plan is worked through. The schools have to plan everything they do with regard to the customs, traditions and everything else. They plan that through a five-year period. Some schools are a lot quicker on that journey; other schools take more time. Recently we have opened a fund to encourage schools that have transformed. It is mainly schools that have transformed that have applied to look at sports in their schools to see if they wish to offer different sports. Sports are normally offered for just one tradition or another. For example, there could be a formerly controlled school that has now become controlled integrated and wants to offer the GAA sports, hockey and so on. The school can apply to us for funding for the additional equipment it needs. This is done over a period of time. As I said, some schools are very quick at this process; others are quite slow. The Department of Education monitors religious balance and advises schools if they are not meeting the religious balance required. It is up to the school. A lot of it depends on the community and if the communities mix before the school goes down that road of transformation.