REBELLION: Primary school heads refuse to accept any more redundancies

REBELLION: Primary school heads refuse to accept any more redundancies

30 November 2016

LOCAL primary school heads are locked in an unlikely rebellion with the Education Authority over increasingly stretched budgets.

In an unprecedented revolt, the majority of principals from Newcastle to Killyleagh have refused to meet budgets allocated for the next three years, instead submitting bleak projections of mounting debt to the Authority.

The highly unusual move, showing that over 80 per cent of local primaries will be “in the red” by 2019, was made following a series of crisis meetings of principals to discuss the increasing economic strain.

Over 100 members of the East Down Principals Group agreed they would not make more staff redundant to meet their new budgets, warning that such a move would threaten the quality of education.

Local headmaster and chairman of the East Down Principals Group, Jason Milligan, said there had been an “unusual silence” from the Education Authority since they made their move several months ago.

But he said the threat to provision, particularly special needs education, meant they felt they had little choice.

“Our budgets have not gone up in line with rising costs and the consequence of that is that we have less resources to deliver the curriculum,” he said.

“The only way schools can make significant cuts is through staff redundancies and we are refusing to do that because of the impact it will have on educational provision.

“It was a big step, but we made a collective decision to submit our three year plans without factoring in redundancies and showing us going into the red.

“School budgets are under massive strain but we need our staffing levels to deliver the curriculum.”

A school principal for 12 years, in both Crossgar and Killyleagh, Mr Milligan said he had “never known a time like it.”

“I have never known principals coming together to make a stand like this,” he said.

“There was angst over this. The principals’ body is a compliant group, not by nature rebellious, but to make those redundancies would compromise that standard of education provision.

“Our message to the Education Authority is ‘you have just reduced the size of our shelf, something now has to fall off the shelf. You tell us what has to give.’

“The Education Minister is making sustainable schools unsustainable.”

Mr Milligan said there was a real fear within the education community that special needs provision would once again suffer the brunt of effective cuts.

If cost-cutting measures are enforced to bring schools “into the black”, he said there would “be no special needs.”

“Special needs is already hard hit. Further cuts are expected to be brought in but the impact that would have on the quality of education is inconceivable,” he warned.

“This is not about cuts, it is about lack of funding.

“We are trying to make as much noise about this as possible because schools in this area are full and yet are still unable to meet their budgets.

“We are saying very loudly that we do not have the resources, we are not managing, schools are stretched to their limit.

“Children are not getting their needs met, teachers workloads are increasing — it has not reached crisis point yet, but it is beginning to happen.

“The principals body is extremely anxious that not enough is being done to address these issues.”

South Down Assemblyman Colin McGrath said he had heard from the principals as a member of Stormont’s education committee, who he said were “gobsmacked” by the extent of the funding crisis.

He said was seeking information through the Assembly about the projected deficits of each school,   but felt he was being frustrated by the Department of Education as he tries to uncover the truth.

“I will get that information and I believe the answer to that question, when it comes, will tell a story,” he said.

“It will show that schools are going to go bust.

“We were surprised, as a committee, by the reality of the situation. The principals told us about the day to day issues they face, which is a different story to the polished version we hear from the Department.” 

A spokeswoman for the Education Authority said the issue was an ”operational matter” for the Education Authority. At the time of going to press the Education Authority was unavailable for comment.