Millions in extra cash to help NI schools reopen | ‘I fully recognise the stresses felt by teachers, parents and pupils’

Education Minister Peter Weir announced a £48 million package to help cover the cost of drafting in extra staff, buying personal protective equipment (PPE), and transporting children from home to school.

The minister’s announcement comes after Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer, Dr Michael McBride, issued a statement alongside his counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales that warned the long-term risks to children’s health outweighs the risk of a return to school.

Schools in Northern Ireland have been shut since March due to the coronavirus pandemic but pupils are now due to return to full-time education from August 31 onwards.

Mr Weir said: “I fully recognise the stresses felt by teachers, parents and pupils due to the ongoing disruption and uncertainty regarding the future. My key priority has always been to ensure all of our children and young people return to school on a full-time basis, as soon as it is safe to do so. To help support schools, I have allocated funding which will address many of the new pressures arising as a result of Covid-19, including increased substitute teacher costs, wellbeing initiatives for pupils, PPE and home to school transport.”

The funding will cover the first term of the new academic year.

The minister, in comments addressed to “teachers and school leaders”, suggested further money could be needed in the future. He said: “I want to assure them that I will continue to monitor funding requirements as schools reopen and as the pandemic progresses, to secure adequate funding to keep schools open and protect our children and young people.”

He added: “I want to thank teachers and school leaders for their hard work and commitment to their students in these very difficult circumstances.”

A total of £17.5 million has been set aside to cover the cost of hiring more substitute teachers, with the demands of social distancing and the possibility some teachers might have to self-isolate expected to put more pressure on staffing levels.

Another £6.4 million has been set aside to help pay for personal protective equipment such as visors and face masks. There has also been £3.1 million earmarked for extra transport costs, and £3.4 million for free school meals and what Mr Weir’s department describe as “maintaining standards and learning, cleaning etc.”

The rest of the £48 million funding package is earmarked for “school wellbeing initiatives”, “online learning” costs, “special educational needs in mainstream and pupil support”, and for the “safe reopening of non-statutory pre-school settings”.