Question Time: Education Tuesday 29 April 2014
The impact
of the stalling Welfare Reform Bill and concerns around educational attainment
gaps were among the topics discussed during today’s Questions
to the Minister of Education, John O’Dowd.
Trevor
Clarke asked the Minister what provisions he has made if the Finance Minister’s
prediction that £30m may be lost from the Education budget as a result of
penalties imposed due to the stalling Welfare Reform Bill proves accurate. Mr O’Dowd
dismissed the speculative nature of the claims given that the Executive has not
come to any budgetary agreements saying, “I think that our energies would be
much better used in dealing with the British Government and relaying to the
them the detrimental impact that welfare reform will have on our society and
community than anticipating or speculating on figures that may or may not come
out of my budget” while assuring the Member that, “ I will continue to
manage my budget efficiently and effectively and will deliver education
services across the board”.
The
Community Relations Council recently identified educational attainment gaps in
their third
peace monitoring report and Chris Lyttle was keen for the Minister’s
assessment of the findings. The Minister highlighted the report’s findings that
the performance of young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds is
suffering saying that “the attainment gaps are simply unacceptable”. The
Minister pointed out that he is attempting to intervene with the new common
funding formula aimed at diverting greater funds towards schools that serve a
higher proportion of pupils from a socially disadvantaged background.
The Minister
also answered questions on enrolment at rural schools and post-primary withdrawals
as well as providing updates on planned campus and school newbuilds.
No comments: