“The letter to school leaders from the Chief Executive of the Education Authority setting out further measures to achieve savings is yet another dire indication of the parlous state of Northern Ireland’s education budget. The Education Authority has again targeted the price of school meals, and while we recognise those entitled to free school meals will not be affected, these steep increases will place further pressure on families, particularly those on lower incomes and with multiple children of school age.
“Other measures announced, such as the reduction to the delegated school expenditure limit and the withdrawal of contingency and programme funding for schools will apply even more pressure on our school leaders who are now being asked to overcome almost insurmountable administrative hurdles to manage ever-decreasing real terms budget allocations.
“ASCL Northern Ireland has been warning for some time that we were hurtling towards crisis point and the measures announced yesterday will hurt pupils, their parents and the provisions schools can make for our young people. Our politicians now need to treat as a matter of urgency the crisis at the heart of our current school funding settlement because school leaders and staff can no longer bridge the gap between public expectations for what schools can deliver and what is realistic with current budget allocations.”