Northern Ireland education bodies urge Secretary of State to address underfunding

Education leaders have called on Chris Heaton-Harris to “end the cycle of chronic underfunding” in Northern Ireland's education system.

In a joint letter, the seven main education bodies said children and young people in the region should be treated fairly like their peers elsewhere in the UK.

The Northern Ireland Office has said the matter is for the devolved institutions to resolve. They were collapsed by the DUP over the government's handling of EU trading arrangements.

“A child in Strabane should be entitled to the same level of investment as a child in Sunderland, Swansea or Stirling,” they said.

As a result of the Stormont Assembly collapse, senior civil servants have been left in charge of departments with limited powers amidst budgetary constraints.

In the absence of ministers, the Secretary of State set a budget influenced by financial circumstances with Stormont having two years to pay off a £300 million overspend.

Chris Heaton-Harris set a budget amid challenging financial circumstances with Stormont having two years to pay off an almost £300 million overspend.

The education leaders said they noted that decision “with concern”, claiming it “penalises the children of today and tomorrow” and calling for “much-needed investment" in public services”.

“Our children and young people in Northern Ireland continue to be let down by the increasing challenges resulting from over a decade of chronic underfunding,” they wrote to Mr Heaton-Harris.

The chief executives of the seven main education bodies implored the Secretary of State to "end this cycle and treat our children and young people equitably.”

They mentioned several issues placing a strain on the education system including industrial action, “inadequate funding” for school estates and an increasing demand for support for young people with special educational needs.

They said: “It is essential that as a society we value and invest in the education of our children and young people and in future generations to come.

"Collectively we strongly repeat our call for sustained investment, fair pay for all our staff and continued investment in the transformation of services.

“A lack of investment in education, in the early years of our children’s lives today, will have an ever increasing impact on the economy, justice system and health systems tomorrow.

“The underinvestment that has continued over the past financial year exacerbates an already unsustainable situation.”

They highlighted that steps have been taken to reduce expenditure. concerns remain that "without equitable investment, outcomes for all our children and young people will be compromised."

Over the past year, amidst budgetary constraints, the Department have removed a number of programmes including Covid recovery support and cost of living schemes.

Looking ahead to 2024, they told Mr Heaton-Harris that it is “critical that education in Northern Ireland is funded equitably in line with other UK regions”.

They called for education to be prioritised in deliberations on how to allocated an additional £110m announced as part of the autumn statement.

They concluded: “It is incumbent on us all to protect the education of our children now and for generations to come.”

The letter was signed by chief executives from the Education Authority, Council for Integrated Education, CCEA, the Governing Bodies Association NI, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, the Controlled Schools’ Support Council and chief executive of Comhairle na Gaelscolaiochta.

A Northern Ireland Office Spokesperson said: "This year's budget allocation from the UK Government gave the Northern Ireland Department of Education a total allocation of £2.6billion."The decisions required to manage this budget continue to rest with the Northern Ireland departments."We continue to call on NI parties to restore a locally elected, accountable and effective devolved government as soon as possible, which is the best way to govern Northern Ireland."

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