Numerous secondary schools are expected to disappear and new models of education emerge through area planning.
Crippling budget cuts and ever-decreasing pupil numbers mean action must be taken to reduce the number of schools across the North. New area plans represent the biggest overhaul of the education sector in 50 years.
They follow on from the publication in March this year of viability audits, which had red-flagged failing schools.
Many towns in Northern Ireland have Catholic, state-controlled, integrated and Irish-medium schools all in close proximity. It is, therefore, expected that the area plans will bring forward numerous, detailed proposals for sharing across sectors.
Draft plans, which are now out for consultation, contain fewer cross-sectoral solutions than had been anticipated.
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