You can’t lick a lollipop man

Proposal to axe road patrols slammed

AN abandoned plan to cut lollipop attendants was “ridiculous” and evidence of an education funding crisis, it has been claimed.

School crossing patrols provide safe passage to thousands of children every day – so the fact the cut was even considered caused alarm.

The proposal was one of several potentially controversial measures considered recently by the Education Authority but rejected by its board as “unpalatable”.

It decided the Department for Education should make any such decisions.

The details emerged in a letter from the EA to the Department for Education as seen by the BBC, in which it states the EA faces a funding gap of £58million in 2018/19. It highlights a number of “difficult choices” the authority is faced with, including the removal of school crossing patrols, withdrawing uniform allowances or compulsory redundancies in schools. Fermanagh and South Tyrone UUP MLA Rosemary Barton said: “It’s now evident the size of the local education budget is simply no longer adequate to deliver a quality education system.”

The DUP’S Peter Weir, a former Education Minister, added: “The circulation of a proposal to remove all lollipop men and women from outside our schools is clearly without merit and unacceptable.” East Derry Sinn Fein MLA Caoimhe Archibald said: “It is absolutely vital vulnerable children and families are protected.”