NI education: Early years expansion needed, review finds

The review was commissioned in response to commitments contained in the New Decade New Approach deal

By Kevin Sharkey

BBC News NI

An expansion to early years education is needed in Northern Ireland, an independent review has found.

It said two year olds should receive up to 20 hours of education per week and three year olds up to 22.5 hours.

"Increased investment will extend access and improve quality, enabling early diagnosis and intervention in cases of difficulty," it continued.

The authors said early years investment is the most effective contribution to overcome socioeconomic disadvantage.

The Independent Review of Education was commissioned in response to commitments contained in the New Decade New Approach deal, which underpinned the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive in January 2020.

It comes as schools across Northern Ireland face massive budgetary pressures.

However, the real-terms reduction, taking inflation into account, is likely to be higher.

Among the radical reforms being proposed is the eventual replacement of classroom assistants

The report, published on Wednesday, also identified failings in the provision of services for children with special educational needs (SEN).

Explaining that the system is not working as intended, the report concluded "thorough reform is urgently required".

Among the radical reforms being proposed is the eventual replacement of classroom assistants with fully trained and qualified teachers, other professionals or upskilled classroom assistants.

However, the report acknowledged there should still be a role for classroom assistants who, the authors acknowledged, provide a vital and very helpful service.

'Unviable schools'

The issue of "unviable" small schools with insufficient pupil numbers is also addressed.

The report found that a special commission should be set up to look at education, area-by-area, with a view to closing all unviable schools.

It said the proposals should come two years after the commission was established, followed by a 10-year implementation period.

The review has also come out against the ongoing development of a shared education campus in Omagh

Strule is the biggest school building project to be planned in Northern Ireland.

Arvalee Special School, which opened in 2016, is one of of six schools proposed for the site.

The panel said the project should cease because it believes it does not provide any educational advantage and the proposed cost cannot be justified.

Arvalee principal Jonathan Gray said he was shocked to hear the recommendation.

"We have the land, we have that space for the schools," he said. "The money has to be spent anyway, we need it out in the west, the facilities need to be enhanced for the children," he said.

Jonathan Gray said he is "at a loss" by a recommendation for the Strule project to cease

"I'm at a loss until I read the detail. I just don't understand it at the moment," Mr Gray continued.

Other recommendations in the report included increasing the school leaving or compulsory education age from 16 to 18.

It also wants vocational pathways for school pupils to begin at 14 years of age, alongside reforms of further and higher education to enhance collaboration with schools and universities as well as closer involvement with business and industry.

'Uplift in education budget needed'

On funding, the report found there is an immediate need to uplift the education budgets by £291m annually.

There currently is no Stormont Executive, with parties engaged in talks about its finances if it should be restored.

Education in Northern Ireland is "seriously underfunded", review panel chair Dr Keir Bloom told BBC's Talkback programme, but the quality of educational provision would provide a "fairly solid base" for reform.

"Northern Irish education is seriously underfunded" - Dr Keir Bloom

The director of the Association of School and College Leaders NI, John Trueman, said the report "pulls no punches" and has urged Stormont to "implement the funding recommendations set out in the report as a matter of urgency".

Education Authority chief executive Sara Long also welcomed the call for an immediate uplift in funding "following a decade of chronic underfunding".

The Controlled Schools' Support Council (CSSC) chief executive Mark Baker thanked the review panel for listening to its concerns and said education in Northern Ireland needs "evidence-based transformation".

Single department

A single education department at Stormont is another of the report's proposals. The Department of Education is currently responsible for primary and post-primary schools while the Department for the Economy oversees further and higher education institutions.

Dr Bloom said there is poor collaboration between schools and colleges due to separate funding arrangements.

A single governing body for further education colleges has also been proposed.

Mergers and academic selection

The report also recommends major reform of the curriculum and its management, and a reconfiguration of the network of schools with the potential to create new "jointly-managed community schools" by merging schools from different sectors.

This would result in around 20% of pupils being enrolled in a "jointly-managed" school by 2031.

There is a recommendation that "all learners at all stages should have the opportunity to learn alongside individuals from other communities and backgrounds in the same classroom".

Reform of the transfer of pupils from primary to post-primary schools to "reduce differences between academically selective and non-selective schools" was also proposed, with schools to take a "pupil profile approach" to selection - this could be through multiple, smaller exams rather than a single transfer test.

Youth assembly members Andrew Martin, Robert Moore, Oliver Mercer, Charlotte McGucken attended a launch event for the report

"It's going to need action and it's going to need an executive and assembly to implement. That's going to be up to our politicians, to have the courage to implement," junior assembly member Andrew Martin said after the report was announced.

Robert Moore said the youth assembly will be "very proactive" in urging politicians to implement these recommendations, once the executive is restored.

Learners have been "listened to" with the proposals put forward in the report, Oliver Mercer said.

"The younger that you're bringing people together... that [continues] as you get older," Charlotte McGucken said on proposals for school mergers.

NI Education: Teachers in NI to strike on 18 January

Teachers in Northern Ireland are to strike early next year in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

The main teaching unions, including headteachers, said their members would strike on 18 January.

It follows a full-day walkout in April and a half-day action on 29 November.

The industrial action taken by teaching unions has been mainly due to a pay dispute, with a stalemate over a deal running for more than a year.

In a statement issued on behalf of the Department of Education and Education Authority, they said they "recognise the frustration of teachers and school leaders over the ongoing absence of a pay offer".

"It is regrettable that, due to an inadequate education budget, it has not been possible for the teachers to be offered a pay award," the statement from Management Side of the Teachers' Negotiating Committee continued.

Management Side comprises representatives of all the education employing authorities, sectoral bodies and the department.

The Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC) has confirmed the strike will involve:

The NITC said that "to date no pay offer has been made in relation to teachers' pay, and no talks around same have been tabled".

"Almost unbelievably we are entering 2024 with no resolution to this issue since 2020 and it's now accepted at all levels that teachers' pay needs to be addressed," Jacquie White, general secretary of the UTU, said.

Justin McCamphill of the NASUWT said "every day that passes without a decent pay offer increases the anger felt by teachers".

"Teachers should not be pawns in a political game," he added.

Pauline Buchanan and Mark Langhammer, joint regional secretaries of NEU said the Independent Review of Education "confirmed that our education system has been grossly under-funded for years".

They said teachers' pay was "falling behind and strike action is the inevitable consequence".

Mark McTaggart of INTO demanded "that the necessary funding is immediately released to resolve the issue of teachers' pay".

"A just pay solution cannot be dependent on the action or inaction of any politician or political party."

Schools have already been disrupted by previous industrial action

Liam McGuckin, NAHT's Northern Ireland president, said that "failure to address teacher and school leader pay" or "make any progress on the clearly understood workload issues" had led to this situation.

Teachers in Northern Ireland have not had a pay increase for almost three years.

Many teachers in England, Scotland and Wales now earn thousands of pounds more than their counterparts in Northern Ireland at the same grade.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has been engaged in talks with Stormont's largest parties this week about the restoration of the executive, with a £2.5bn financial package on offer from the government.

This would include provision for public sector pay increases.

But with the current plan to seal a Stormont deal not expected to happen before Christmas, it is unclear if a pay figure can be proposed.

NI education: Plea to government to end 'chronic underfunding'

The heads of Northern Ireland's main education bodies have urged an end to "chronic underfunding".

In a letter to the Northern Ireland secretary, the seven chief executives listed issues they said were affecting education.

Chris Heaton-Harris is in charge of NI's finances and set Stormont's budget as the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) boycott of power sharing continues.

On Thursday, the chief executives of the seven main education bodies outlined their concerns to Mr Heaton-Harris.

They said they were writing to implore him to "end this cycle" of underfunding and "treat our children and young people equitably".

They cited problems in the sector including ongoing industrial action by staff over pay, inadequate funding for the fabric of the school estate and an increasing demand for support for young people with special educational needs.

"This is having an impact on all those in our schools but specifically the most vulnerable, marginalised and deprived," the letter added.

"In spite of these many pressures, staff right across the education system, both teaching and non-teaching, continue to deliver for our children.

"Their commitment and dedication to young people and wider school communities in the face of unprecedented challenges and difficulties is outstanding. Without these staff, our system would not operate."

The seven chief executives are:

The leaders collectively repeated a call for "sustained investment, fair pay for all our staff and continued investment in the transformation of services".

They said that in their roles they had already taken steps to reduce spending but they remained concerned that " without equitable investment", outcomes for all our children and young people would be compromised.

And they warned the Northern Ireland secretary: "As we move into 2024 we would ask you, as you continue to oversee the financial allocation to and within Northern Ireland, to remember that education is not an optional extra but is the foundation upon which a peaceful Northern Ireland is built.

"It is critical that education in Northern Ireland is funded equitably in line with other UK regions."

They also pointed to £75m announced in the Chancellor's autumn statement for Northern Ireland in November, and said they were concerned it was being used to repay a previous budget overspend "rather than the much-needed investment required in public services".

"This decision penalises the children of today and tomorrow. A child in Strabane should be entitled to the same level of investment as a child in Sunderland, Swansea or Stirling," the letter added.

The chief executives asked Mr Heaton-Harris to meet them to discuss the challenges facing the education sector, which they warned will "remain the position" into 2024 and beyond.

A Northern Ireland Office Spokesperson said: "This year's budget allocation from the UK Government gave the Northern Ireland Department of Education a total allocation of £2.6 billion.

"The decisions required to manage this budget continue to rest with the Northern Ireland departments.

"We continue to call on NI parties to restore a locally elected, accountable and effective devolved government as soon as possible, which is the best way to govern Northern Ireland".