Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Parents must bridge funding crisis in schools
sustainable.” Charlene Brooks, chief executive of family support group Parenting NI, said children whose families cannot afford the contribution risk being stigmatised.
She added: “Parents have made it very clear that this has had an additional financial and emotional strain.
“They talk about a voluntary contribution but if one parent does not make it does that mean that their child is left out of a lesson and is more
vulnerable to being picked on? Does that mean that child stands out from the group?
“There appears to be greater expectation on parents to pay for things they would not have to in the past.”
Sinn Fein’s late Deputy First Minister Martin Mcguinness stepped down two years ago on Wednesday in protest at the DUP’S handling of RHI – the botched green energy scheme.
The impasse has created a decisionmaking logjam which has affected
everything from pub closures to road building projects being delayed.
The budget for schools has reduced by about 10% in real terms since 2014.
A Department of Education spokeswoman said 91% of the total budget for day-to-day running costs went on funding schools and pupils.
She added: “However, we fully acknowledge the financial challenges facing schools and continue to make the case for additional funding. That said, we do not determine what the final
outcome will be each year, as the education pressures are considered alongside other competing pressures.”
Endless rounds of political talks have failed to restore the Executive. An official probe into RHI and its threatened massive overspending is due to report later this year. The DUP, led by Arlene Foster who signed off on RHI when she was
Economy Minister, wants to re-enter Government but refuses to meet Sinn Fein’s demand for an Irish
Language Act and reform to same sex marriage and abortion law.
Meanwhile, tourism chiefs are awaiting reform to cut red tape, and the tax burden. Hospitality Ulster chief Colin Neill said: “The rates system no longer works.”