20th April 2023
Schools across Northern Ireland are set to face yet more funding cuts, as the Department of Education has informed them of its plans to remove funding for Extended Schools from June 2023. The cuts will have a direct impact on the most vulnerable children in the region.
The 471 schools that currently rely on Extended Schools funding will no longer be able to provide disadvantaged pupils with services such as breakfast clubs, afterschool provision and parental support programs.
Mark McTaggart, INTO Northern Secretary, has expressed his concern about the situation, stating that “the cuts will affect the most economically and socially disadvantaged children in the region. The removal of the Extended Schools funding will be a significant setback for these students, and the communities they come from.”
This latest cut to education funding follows a series of cuts to: free meals during school holidays, counselling for primary school children, catch-up support and free books for babies. The continued cuts have sparked outrage among teachers, who are calling on politicians to find the necessary funding to ensure that this system can offer world-class education to all students.
It is time for politicians to stop playing with the lives of the most vulnerable young people in society and get back to real politics. Education deserves better.
View BBC Coverage HERE.