Allister Highlights Protestant Under-representation at Universities
18 October 2011
TUV leader Jim Allister has highlighted the under-representation of Protestants at Northern Ireland’s universities. Mr Allister obtained the data by way of a series of written questions to the Employment and Learning Minister. The North Antrim MLA said:
“It is alarming to notice the very pronounced difference between the number of students coming from Protestant and Roman Catholic backgrounds attending both of our universities.
“Of particular concern is the breakdown of students at the Jordanstown and Magee campuses of the University of Ulster. At Jordanstown there are just 3,850 Protestant students compared with 6,640 Roman Catholics while at Magee Protestants make up less than 1/5 of the student population.
“The situation at the University of Ulster is compounded by the fact that there is a total imbalance in terms of the number of students coming from the Irish Republic. While at Queen’s there is essentially equilibrium between the number of students coming from the Republic and GB, at University of Ulster the number of students from the Republic is five times greater than from the UK mainland.
“There are 2,800 students from the Republic studying at the University of Ulster which suggests that pro rata it is being more successful in recruiting young people from the Republic than it is in recruiting local Protestant students.
“It is essential that something is done to address this situation. It seems to me there has been a lamentable failure by the University of Ulster in their recruitment from controlled schools and, thus, I am looking to them to address this. I will be writing to the Vice-Chancellor.
“I would particularly like to see more Protestant boys from working class areas are encouraged to progress to third level education at one of our local universities.
“I have to say that the initial reaction from the University of Ulster is disappointing. As this data is collected people have a right to comment. It is the responsibility of the higher education sector to do all they can to address the situation, not complain about the problem being highlighted.
“It is also interesting to note the data obtained from Northern Ireland’s teacher training colleges. Stranmillis is the only higher education institution in the Province where Protestants outnumber Roman Catholics yet there is a totally unjustified and unjustifiable campaign to do away with Stranmillis and merge it with Queen’s. Why there are no plans to do away with St Mary’s is not for me to explain. The figures showing the breakdown of students at Queen’s highlight the nonsensical argument that somehow the ethos of Stranmillis can be preserved if a merger is pushed through.”
