'Education of this generation at risk': Schools to be plunged into cash crisis by O'Dowd spending plan that would cut over £800m in a single year, say five sector chiefs
Education bosses from five different sectors have come together to issue a stark warning that John O’Dowd’s spending plan will spark a huge funding crisis – taking away half of all school budgets in a single year.
A joint statement issued today predicts cuts of £826m in the next financial year alone, which is being blamed on the Sinn Fein Finance Minister’s proposed three-year Stormont budget.
The five sector leaders jointly warn of an “unprecedented funding crisis” that threatens the stability of education in Northern Ireland if the plan is put into action.
The minister’s proposal is still at a draft stage and hasn’t yet been agreed by the Executive. The five sector leaders are now asking everyone from parents to school staff to make their feelings on the plan clear through a currently running public consultation, arguing the “education of this generation” depends on it.
They state: “The choice is between investing in the future of our children or managing the decline of our education system.”
Putting their names to the joint statement are five chief executives – Mark Baker of the Controlled Schools’ Support Council, Eamonn Broderick from the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, Sean Pettis of the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, Nuala O'Neill of the Governing Bodies Association NI, and Maria Thomasson of Comhairle na Gaelscolaiochta.
That brings together the leaders of bodies overseeing the bulk of education in Northern Ireland, all of them worried about the impact of the O’Dowd plan.
Stating they have “profound concerns about the deepening financial crisis facing our education system”, the sector leaders warn that schools don’t have the flexibility to absorb more cuts – yet, they say, that’s what would happen if the three-year plans is approved.
“The proposed draft multi-year [spending plan] would require the Department of Education to find savings of £826m in the 2026/27 financial year alone,” read the joint statement, adding that’s “almost half of the current Aggregated Schools Budget”.
The statement continues: “This funding gap would increase further in subsequent years. As the Minister of Education has acknowledged, reductions on such a scale would necessitate extreme measures with long-term consequences extending well beyond education into health, justice and the wider economy.
“As chief executives, we recognise our collective responsibility to pursue efficiency and transformation and to make the best possible use of available resources; however, efficiency alone cannot address a funding gap of this scale.
“While we understand the difficult fiscal context facing the Northern Ireland Executive and the constraints of the block grant settlement, the implications for education are stark and must be clearly understood.
“There are clearly difficult decisions to be made. The choice is between investing in the future of our children or managing the decline of our education system.”
Urging parents, staff and the wider public to make their views on the spending plan clear before the public consultation ends on March 3, they add: “As education partners, we believe that how we invest in our children today is a measure of the society we wish to become tomorrow.
“The education of this generation, and those that follow, depends on it.”
The Department of Finance has been contacted.