What is the purpose of the Committee?
The Committee
for Education was established to advise and assist the Minister for Education
on a range of matters within his/her responsibility. These matters include but
are not limited to: curriculum and learning, raising standards and improving
schools, school admissions policy and the development of transfer policy and
child protection and safeguarding.
An important
element of the Committee’s work is to undertake a scrutiny, policy development
and consultation role with respect to the Department of Education. It also
plays a key part in the consideration and development of legislation.
How does it work?
Once the
Committee has established its work programme, it will look at how it will
approach each issue. This could involve consulting with relevant stakeholders,
establishing their concerns and determining how best these issues should be
tackled and resolved. The Committee will also examine all legislation brought
forward by the Department of Education and advise on what it believes is
necessary to ensure that all laws are robust and fit for purpose. Throughout
the year, the Committee will also examine and monitor Departmental policy,
conduct inquiries and produce reports into areas of interest.
A further
important component of the Committee’s work is to analyse the Department’s
budget and proposed spending. The Committee does this through what are known as
‘Quarterly Monitoring Rounds’, when the Department will prepare and produce
reports in June, October and January, outlining its expenditure. The reports
detail how the Department of Education has spent its monies to date, if there
is any unused money that could be reallocated to the overall Executive budget,
if it intends to make any spending changes or if it needs to bid for additional
funding.
The Committee
invites the Minister and Departmental Officials to attend meetings on a regular
basis to update and inform Committee Members on the implementation of current
and future policies. This is also an important opportunity for Committee
Members to directly question the Minister and Departmental Officials on their
work.
Who sits on the Committee?
There are 11
MLAs on the Committee for Education- Committee Chairperson: Mr Barry McElduff (Sinn Fein) West Tyrone
- Deputy Chairperson: Mr Chris Lyttle (Alliance Party) East Belfast
- Mrs Rosemary Barton (Ulster Unionist Party) Fermanagh and South Tyrone
- Mr David Hilditch (Democratic Unionist Party) East Antrim
- Ms Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party) Upper Bann
- Mr Philip Logan (Democratic Unionist Party) North Antrim
- Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party) Fermanagh and South Tyrone
- Ms Jennifer McCann (Sinn Fein) West Belfast
- Mr Colin McGrath (Social Democratic and Labour Party) South Down
- Mrs Sandra Overend (Ulster Unionist Party) Mid Ulster
- Ms Catherine Seeley (Sinn Fein) Upper Bann
How can I get involved with the work of
the Committee?
There are
lots of ways you can get keep up to date with the work of the Committee:
Attend
The
Committee for Education meets each Wednesday when the Assembly is
in session. Check the Business Diary to get the time, location and agenda for each meeting.
Watch/listen live
You
can watch the Committee’s meetings live via our TV website, or if you missed it, the video/audio
file will be available for viewing by the next working day.
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| Subscribe to the Committee’s newsletter |
Subscribe
to the Committee’s newsletter and
get a weekly update on the work of the Committee, direct to your inbox.
Give evidence
Committees
carry out inquiries into specific areas of interest. You can contribute to any
of the Committee’s Inquiries by providing evidence during the consultation
period. Information on how and when to
do this will be advertised in newspapers, via the Committee’s twitter page, in
the weekly Committee newsletter and on the Committee’s webpage.
Follow
Contact
Write to the Committee Clerk:
Peter
McCallion
Room 428 Parliament
Buildings,
Ballymiscaw,
Stormont,
Belfast, BT4 3XX
You can also
contact any of the Committee Members directly.
