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The Economics of Schooling in a Divided Society

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  • Borooah, Vani
  • Knox, Colin

Abstract

Northern Ireland is praised as an education system which produces high performance levels. This is undoubtedly true for grammar school pupils. However it ignores the fact that only one-third of secondary school pupils obtain 5+ GCSE passes at A* - C grades, including English and Maths. It also conceals the level of inequality which children from disadvantaged backgrounds experience in accessing grammar schools. Structural reforms, proposed school closures and mergers into super-schools will do little to address these problems. School improvement policies employed by the Department of Education have also made no impression on raising standards. This paper offers peer learning, a model based on stronger-weaker school links, as an alternative approach. The pilot shared education programme provides early evidence of trust building between schools which allows for peer learning to happen. The essential point is that parents make a choice on educational grounds rather than the heterogeneity of schools. While segregated schools sit uneasily with a desegregated workforce, poor educational standards fail to prepare pupils for employment, the greater of the two evils.

Suggested Citation

  • Borooah, Vani & Knox, Colin, 2015. "The Economics of Schooling in a Divided Society," MPRA Paper 78124, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:78124
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Borooah, Vani, 2001. "The Measurement of Employment Inequality Between Population Subgroups: Theory and Application," MPRA Paper 19417, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Sen, Amartya, 1998. "Mortality as an Indicator of Economic Success and Failure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(446), pages 1-25, January.
    3. Atkinson, Anthony B., 1970. "On the measurement of inequality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 244-263, September.
    4. Cowell, Frank A & Jenkins, Stephen P, 1995. "How Much Inequality Can We Explain? A Methodology and an Application to the United States," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(429), pages 421-430, March.
    5. Borooah, Vani, 2010. "On the Risks of Belonging to Disadvantaged Groups: A Bayesian Analysis of Labour Market Outcomes," MPRA Paper 19742, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. John Fitzgerald & Edgar Morgenroth, 2019. "The Northern Ireland Economy: Problems and Prospects," Trinity Economics Papers tep0619, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2019.
    2. Knox Colin & McCrory Seamus, 2018. "Consolidating peace: Rethinking the community relations model in Northern Ireland," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 66(3), pages 7-31, August.
    3. Smyth, Emer & Devlin, Anne & Bergin, Adele & McGuinness, Seamus, 2022. "A North-South comparison of education and training systems: Lessons for policy," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS138, June.
    4. Borooah, Vani & Knox, Colin, 2015. "Inequality, segregation and poor performance: the education system in Northern Ireland," MPRA Paper 75728, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. John Fitzgerald, 2011. "Investment in Education and Economic Growth on the Island of Ireland," Trinity Economics Papers tep0719, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Northern Ireland; Schools; Segregation; Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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