Peace and Conflict Studies - Spring 2014

Peace and Conflict Studies Volume 21, Number 1 39 Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) pushed for a revision of the curriculum and these changes were formalised in the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. The revised curriculum aims to provide a more joined-up and holistic approach, place greater emphasis on work skills and provide greater flexibility for pupils (Department of Education Northern Ireland, 2009). In particular, in an attempt to greater prepare students for work, the revised curriculum requires students from 11-16 years to study “Learning for life and work”. This includes education for employability, local and global citizenship, personal development and home economics. There is also a greater emphasis on cross-curricular skills such as communication, using mathematics, and using ICT. As part of this revised curriculum the Department of Education has also started to introduce an “Entitlement Framework”, which aims to provide students aged between 14 and 19 with a guaranteed minimum number and range of applied (vocational) and general (academic) courses. From 2013, schools will be required to provide students aged 14-16 years with access to a minimum of 24 courses, and post-16 students with access to a minimum of 27 courses. At least one third of the courses must be general and one third must be applied (Department of Education Northern Ireland, 2014). Northern Ireland is also participating in a UK-wide programme to reform the vocational qualification system. The aims of the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) are to simplify the current complicated National Qualifications Framework (NQF) by presenting qualifications in a way which is easier to understand, to recognise more learning through the award of qualifications and to instil more flexibility into the system through the use of units and credit awarded for achieving those units. (Byrne. 2010, p. 31) Every unit and qualification in the QCF has a level between Entry level and level 8 which indicates the degree of difficulty. Every unit and qualification also has a credit value (with one credit representing 10 hours of study). There are three types of qualifications in the QCF: Awards (1-12 credit); Certificates (13 to 36 credits); Diplomas (37 credits or more) (Byrne, 2010, p. 31). What makes the Wider Horizons programme distinctive from the type of training provided in the formal system, however, is the composition of each project group and the holistic approach. A Wider Horizons project group typically involves 21 participants drawn equally from the nationalist and unionist traditions in the North of Ireland and young people from the Republic of Ireland. The Wider Horizons programme has as one of its main aims to