Scope Articles

Global goals lack local focus

23 May 2019

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are nearly four years old. High-level strategies for the world (or 193 UN member nations) to build a “better and more sustainable future”. Too few people know what they are.

Teachers in our schools: the extent of the religious divide revealed

10 May 2019

A major piece of research into the one profession where it is still lawful to discriminate on the grounds of religion has just been published.

Childcare in NI: parents and providers are both working too hard

12 Apr 2019

Northern Ireland is the UK’s poor cousin when it comes to childcare. Fixes to the sector’s struggling financial structure need legislation.

Back to the drawing board for sustainable transport to school

Chris Hazzard MLA, then Minister for Infrastructure, with pupils from St Colmcille's Primary School in Downpatrick on Bike to School Day in June 2016

21 Mar 2019

Efforts are underway to change transport habits in Northern Ireland – but they might not be working. Scope looks at the annual school transport figures.

Employability programmes can transform lives and communities

Participants in Start360’s Switch onto Employment, at the scheme's celebration last August

7 Mar 2019

The European Social Fund has committed £200m to NI for employability schemes – including Start360’s Switch onto Employment. The organisation tells Scope that ESF’s post-Brexit replacement cannot be half hearted.

The Justice Department wants your views on how best to beat internet grooming and child abuse

28 Feb 2019

How justice agencies and the law tackle online child sexual exploitation is evolving. Common availability of the internet is only about 20 years old – while the reach and nature of usage has changed massively in the last decade.

Childcare provision is good but there are problems with affordability and sustainability

14 Feb 2019

Last month, Employers for Childcare released their ninth annual NI Childcare Cost Survey. The burden on families is enormous - but providers are also under huge strain. Reform (financial assistance and restructuring) is required.

Quality of life is easy to understand but difficult to pin down

8 Feb 2019

Reform is possible in NI, even without a government. Officials last week published a paper seeking to understand what is meant by “quality of life” – with the ultimate aim of improving the lot of adults and children with disabilities.

Teach your children well: the science of lasting peace

11 Jan 2019

Experts from Northern Ireland have helped write a landmark paper which could help to build a more peaceful world.

More Traveller voices should be heard in education

Annie Doherty helping out with Toybox while studying for her GCSEs

20 Dec 2018

Traveller examination results are not where they should be. This is not an insoluble problem, good work is being done, but we would do well to listen more to the views of the Traveller community.

Human Rights in NI – sleepwalking towards disaster

Lord Duncan of Springbank, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Commissioner Les Allamby at the launch of the statement this week

14 Dec 2018

The Human Rights Commission published its Annual Statement this week. We have plenty of problems, too few solutions, and the problems stemming from our lack of a government only ever grow in number.

Public transport is about access – we need to measure it that way

9 Nov 2018

NI’s official annual transport statistics were refined earlier this year. However, from the public perspective, they do not tell us enough.

Improving mental health outcomes will tell us a lot about society

31 Oct 2018

This could prove to be a good week for mental health provision in Northern Ireland. Maybe. Not just because of more money for services - the City Deal could help, too. And it might have to.

Smacking children leads to a more violent society

25 Oct 2018

In Northern Ireland, parents are still allowed to use corporal punishment as long as it is "reasonable chastisement". New research suggests this leads to more violence among young people than if it was banned outright.

Education in NI is ready to snap

19 Oct 2018

Schools are saving money by cutting teaching hours - in other words, by providing less education. Urgent change is required.

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