President McAleese learns human rights lesson

Irish President Mary McAleese was at Belfast’s Stranmillis Primary School on Friday. She was there to meet the children and staff and see them take part in the Lift Off human rights education initiative, a cross-border project led by Amnesty International and local teachers’ unions, the UTU and INTO.

Lift Off will formally launch its set of educational materials at an event in nearby Stranmillis University College next week. The suite of materials consist of three teachers’ resource books, including Irish language versions, posters and a website: liftoffschools.com

Education Minister Caitriona Ruane is expected to speak at the event as well as AIUK director Kate Allen. The event will mark a culmination of eight years of work in curriculum resource development. The programme also helps schools to forge links across the community and across the border. Participating teachers are given the opportunity to meet regularly and share good practice.

The project has been tremendously successful to date, with main winners, of course, being the children in all the schools, north and south, which take part in the programme. The initiative is now being rolled out to all primary schools in Northern Ireland.

A brief Irish News TV report of President McAleese's visit is available here .