Board's anger over prep closures
AN education board has dramatically come out firmly against proposals to withdraw funding from preparatory schools by the end of this year.
The South Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) said that the proposed target date for the withdrawal of funding of September 2010 was "unrealistic, undeliverable and unworkable".
Caitriona Ruane's plans to remove state funding for prep schools have sparked uproar among many prep school parents and their supporters.
Next week, the Assembly will consider a joint Ulster Unionist and DUP motion condemning the proposals.
In a strongly worded response to an Education Department consultation on the plans, the SEELB made clear that the proposal would have "a significant adverse impact" on prep pupils, their parents and teachers.
The Board said that if the funding cut went ahead, it would need to consider a range of options including closing prep schools.
If this happened, it said, the relocation of prep pupils into the mainstream grant aided schools would "place a significant additional burden on the Board's contingency fund in 2010-2011".
"For the SEELB alone this would amount to at least 400,000 additional funding requirement for the period September 2010 to March 2011."
The submission continued: "The mooted time scale prevents either schools or the Board having the necessary time to plan and/or implement the changes. This will have a detrimental impact on the quality of services provided by the Board to front line services."
In future years, the total additional cost would be around 5 million per annum.
In conclusion, the SEELB said for a number of reasons cited in its submission, "and most importantly the financial implications of this proposal and the short timescale available to ensure a smooth transition to any new management arrangements should funding be withdrawn, the Board does not agree that it would be appropriate for the funding for pupils attending Preparatory Departments to be withdrawn at this time".
Jonathan Bell, a DUP MLA for Strangford and governor of Regent House School, uncovered the submission in a freedom of information request.
He said: "I am urging Minister Ruane to rethink because our children are traumatised by the possibility of withdrawing funding by September 2010, which could mean they have to move schools.
"I feel the pain of one parent who approached me. Their child has special educational needs and is crying themselves to sleep with the anxiety and stress that I believe she has been needlessly placed under.”
He pointed to a paragraph in the Board’s submission that they have “little or no surplus capacity in surrounding controlled primary schools to absorb the number of pupils currently attending preparatory departments”.
“In such circumstances, the Department’s proposals could be viewed as having an adverse impact on the Protestant community,” it said.
Mr Bell, a former member of the Human Rights Commission, pledged to take this case to the commission and also to the Equality Commission “as a matter of urgency”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “The Department is currently analysing the responses to the consultation exercise which closed on 4 March.
“Following due consideration of these a final decision will be taken. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual responses to the consultation.”
The SEELB confirmed that the document referred to by Mr Bell was their response to the consultation but added: “The Board has no further comments to make.”
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