As schools return to begin the new school year Head Teachers are undoubtedly focused on how they can continue to deliver the high standard of education that Northern Ireland expects with significantly less money in their budgets. The Belfast Telegraph highlighted the issue on 20th June reporting that Post Primary Principals have called for urgent action on school budgets cuts.

“The letter from the Area Learning Communities calls for immediate action to rethink the allocation of the defined budget for education, including a complete restructuring of the amount of money which is absorbed by non-front line services and a greater delegation of funds to post-primary schools”.

Gavin Boyd on behalf of the Education Authority responded by saying:

"It is very clear that for a significant number of schools, whilst they are doing all that they can to reduce costs, there is little possibility of living within their budget without seriously impacting the quality of teaching and learning.

Our focus now should be on working together to transform our education system to ensure that it meets the needs of all our children and young people.

We need a new education model that is cost effective and sustainable for the future."

He has made this point repeatedly over successive declining budget cycles, reiterating that Northern Ireland cannot afford its current expensive multiple sector model of education. In addition, unlike some areas of the UK, we have a huge rural population and consequently a need for expensive school transport. So inevitably the conversation moves on to school closures, amalgamations, cross-sector cooperation, special needs funding and the £40 million annual school transport bill. Once again we are back to the absence of ministers in Stormont to make these hard calls.

In a recent letter from EA to the Department of Education on 22nd August the shortfall of £58 million in their budget is highlighted and the need for immediate intervention stressed.

"The latest information indicates that schools could overspend their allocations by some £30m after £20m of savings and income generation and that costs can only be reduced by reducing staff numbers meaning compulsory redundancies in schools. They are clear that we have now reached the point where further reductions cannot reasonably be made without impacting educational outcomes and experiences."

The letter goes on to say that the EA's projected deficit of £58m is mainly down to "declining schools' financial positions" totalling £27m and increasing costs of almost £15m for Special Education Needs. As pointed out above, the EA asks who should fund the £40 million spent each year from its budget on school transport?

So where do we go from here? The early years of the Area Learning Communities project raised great hopes for schools to share resources, teachers and connect pupils in a meaningful way with Further Education Colleges to deliver a wider, relevant curriculum choice with a higher profile for vocational courses at lower costs. The practical realities, however, of multiple campuses, shared accountability for outcomes, inter-school commuting and in my opinion, unnecessarily complex funding arrangements, have resulted in only modest progress rather than a radical new vision of interconnected, shared education.

Principals need to have genuine incentives to prioritise shared projects. In research on Learning Communities in Northern Ireland which I worked on with Dr Sam McGuinness, former Head of Limavady Grammar and lately University of Ulster, we pointed out that, in addition to administrative funding obstacles, current inspection protocols can penalise rather than reward a wider focus by Principals and consequently school leaders largely concentrate on their own school.

In a press statement on 13th November 2017 on school budget allocations from the Association of School and College Leaders Northern Ireland, Governing Bodies Association Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Voluntary Grammar Schools Bursars’ Association, Association of Controlled Grammar Schools, and Catholic Heads Association, the impact of these budget shortfalls is conveyed. It includes a reduction in subject choices at GCSE and A level; even larger class sizes; a potentially shorter school day and/or shorter school week; poorer learning environments with cuts in maintenance, administration, technical support, cleaning and resources; an increase in non-specialist teachers delivering the curriculum; and reduced educational opportunities for a generation of pupils.

NAHT in their press release on the 8th August 2018 have also contributed to the debate and welcomed the launch of an inquiry into education funding in Northern Ireland by the NI Affairs Committee. Paul Whiteman, NAHT General Secretary said, this is a significant moment as school leaders can no longer protect children from the failure of central government to provide adequate funding. NAHT (NI) Director Helena Macormac stated:

“In the absence of a NI government, this inquiry is vital. NAHT (NI) has been at the forefront of the campaign to ensure that our schools are properly funded. We have been pressurising the government for independent scrutiny of education funding and we welcome that these demands have been recognised at the parliamentary level.

They rightly stress that the way education funding is currently deployed is inefficient. When I represented ASCL NI we too continually argued that in contrast to the rest of the UK where 2-10% is retained, schools in Northern Ireland only receive a maximum of 59% of the overall education budget directly.  Spending on pre-school, primary and secondary education per pupil is 46% higher in Scotland, 18% higher in England and 31% higher in Wales. NAHT and ASCL are right that our politicians must acknowledge that children and young people in Northern Ireland are not worth less and must take the tough decisions needed. The current approach by DE’s own admission is not keeping pace with the budget reductions in schools. The BBC have recently highlighted this.

“The Department of Education's (DE) policy on sustainable schools states that primary schools should have 140 pupils in urban areas and 105 in rural areas. Of the 817 primary schools in Northern Ireland in 2017/18, 233 had fewer than 105 pupils.

Meanwhile, 77 out of 199 post-primary schools had fewer than 500 pupils - the minimum number recommended by the DE. Almost a third of sixth forms had fewer than 100 pupils, again the minimum recommended number. Urgent action has been called for by the Public Accounts Committee, however, any significant changes to the policy would require ministerial approval.

DE took decisions on 32 school development proposals in 2017-18. Those included closing five primary schools and one post-primary and approving two amalgamations involving five post-primary schools. However, the department has previously said that it is taking too long to close and merge unsustainable schools.”

Our politicians must grasp this nettle but schools and parents too must realise that our current situation needs radical change.

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