3rd September 2018
The near continual uncertainty concerning the funding for the highly successful and popular Curriculum Sports Programme, a coaching scheme that sees 450 schools benefit from specialised coaching in Gaelic football and soccer is headline news again.
The scheme which employs 53 coaches is set to run out of money at the end of October and it is being reported that it may not survive this time as senior civil servants in the Department of Education may not be prepared to make a decision to prioritise the necessary funding required to save it in the absence of a Minister.
INTO, Northern Secretary, Gerry Murphy commenting on the dire state of funding for the education sector generally said:
“It’s a sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in. We have a Department of Education that is committed to pupil wellness, a society increasingly concerned about childhood obesity and a programme in schools that addresses both these issues successfully yet for the sake of a few pounds in overall budgetary terms is to be wound up. This is symptomatic of the dire financial situation the education sector finds itself in. Should this programme be cut how long before the After-School Clubs, the Breakfast Clubs, Sure Start and all the other additional programmes designed to support our vulnerable children follow suit?
Education funding must be sorted. A failure to do so will be much more expensive than the cost of the Curriculum Sports Programme. Inadequate funding for education programmes as a whole will see another generation of the most vulnerable in our society effectively being cast adrift. Can we afford that?”
Mr Murphy suggested that the Department of Education look to the £20 million it has access to in the 2018/19 financial year from the Confidence and Supply arrangement between the Government and the DUP as a possible source of funds to support this programme. He said:
“The Department has the 2018/19 Confidence and Supply money available and this is certainly ‘another educational pressure’ as described by them in their Equality Screening report for the 2018/19 Budget.”
ENDS