David Ford MLA said: “I was very pleased that Nick took time to visit Oakgrove Integrated School.
“He was keen to see the good work that is being done to improve community relations between children from different traditions. I hope that the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister will give a further boost to the great work that this sector is doing.
“Nick’s support for the integrated sector follows that of President Barack Obama who visited Enniskillen Integrated Primary School on Monday.
“Integrated education is often the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a shared future, yet it wasn’t even mentioned in the DUP and Sinn Fein’s new strategy. We need to set challenging and ambitious targets for community relations. It was for this reason that Alliance set a goal in our ‘For Everyone’ document of 20% of pupils in integrated schools by 2020.
“I hope the message gets through to local political leaders that they must radically improve their strategy, particularly in terms of integrated education, to build a truly united and integrated society.”
ENDS