By Alan Erwin

Copyright belfastlive

Judgment was reserved today in legal challenges against Education Minister Paul Givan rejecting bids by two north Down schools to become integrated. Lawyers representing pupils at Bangor Academy and Rathmore Primary claim Mr Givan breached a legislative obligation and “cherry-picked” plans to make a case against their proposed transformation. Following two days of arguments at the High Court, Mr Justice McAlinden pledged to give a ruling as soon as possible. Bangor Academy , with nearly 1,900 pupils and Northern Ireland’s largest school, held a ballot on the proposal to move to integrated status which reportedly drew almost 80% support from parents and guardians. Rathmore Primary School’s plans to make the switch received a similar level of backing. According to documents published by the Department of Education , officials also recommended both Bangor-based schools being allowed to become integrated. Earlier this year, however, Mr Givan decided not to approve the plans. The DUP Minister said there was insufficient evidence that enough Catholic pupils would attend the schools for the provision of integrated education. Citing legislation about having reasonable numbers of both Protestant and Catholic children in integrated schools, those targets were assessed as highly unlikely to be met. Catholic enrolment levels at both Bangor Academy and Rathmore Primary in recent years was said to be around three percent. Applications for leave to seek a judicial review contend that Mr Givan has made an error of law and acted irrationally. Steven McQuitty KC, representing the two schools, claimed he is in breach of Article 64 of the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 which imposes a duty to encourage and facilitate the development of integrated education. The Minister ignored the reality that much of the work to meet the “reasonable numbers” requirement can only be done once a school is approved for the change in status, the court was told. “He cherry-picked from the proposals and submissions to construct a case against transformation, ignoring positive factors,” the barrister submitted. Mr McQuitty insisted the Minister failed to take into account a number of relevant factors, including: the opinion/advice of the Education Authority and officials; the demographic realities facing schools seeking to transform; and the data showing growth of transformed schools. Counsel for the Department, Tony McGleenan KC, responded that the proposals were assessed as being “under-cooked”. Mr McGleenan added: “Notably, there is very little exploration of the key issue we are concerned with – how one moves from Catholic student numbers of three percent to something that might get close to reasonable numbers.” Reserving judgment, Mr Justice McAlinden told both sides: “I will give it some consideration and provide a written decision at some stage.” For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.