To ask the Minister of Education to detail what his Department is doing to fulfil the Executive's commitment to building a united and shared society through the Together: Building a United Community strategy.

My Department actively contributes to the implementation of the Executive’s Together: Building a United Community (T:BUC) strategy in the following ways:

Support for the delivery by the Education Authority (EA) of the T:BUC Camps programme on behalf of The Executive Office - a headline action under the strategy’s key priority “Our Children and Young People” and the Planned Interventions programme. T:BUC Camps aim to support positive attitudinal change towards people from different backgrounds; support contact & friendships between young people from different backgrounds; support better understanding and respect for cultural differences, and, through planned interventions, support youth work activity to divert young people from anti-social and potentially criminal behaviour.

Delivery of the Shared Education Campuses (SEC) headline action to commence 10 new shared education campuses. This provides capital assistance to applicant schools to facilitate shared education through Shared Education Facilities; Enhanced Education Facilities, and Shared Education Campuses. There are currently a number of Shared Education Campus Projects in development. Three projects are proceeding with approved Business Cases.

My Department has a statutory duty to encourage, facilitate and promote Shared Education, underpinned by the Sharing Works policy, and is currently developing proposals for a long term sustainable strategy for the mainstreaming of Shared Education across the wider education sector for my consideration.

My Department’s Community Relations, Equality and Diversity (CRED) policy also aims to ensure that young people develop self-respect and respect for others.

The Tackling Paramilitarism Programme, delivered in collaboration with the EA, the Tackling Paramilitarism Programme Team and other stakeholders is also led by my Department and is one action in the Executive’s Tackling Paramilitarism strategy (A4 – to prevent young people being drawn into paramilitary activity and promote lawfulness).