Ulster Unionist Education spokesperson and Vice Chair of the Education Committee, Danny Kinahan MLA, has hit out at the devastating impact of the Department of Education’s plans to use the proposed changes to the Common Funding Formula to redirect funds from some primary schools to others in more disadvantaged areas.

Mr Kinahan said;

“Earlier this year an independent review team, led by Sir Robert Salisbury, found that the current Common Funding Scheme was failing to maximise opportunity for all pupils and target educational underachievement, especially in areas of social deprivation and therefore change was needed.

 My Party agreed that change was needed, however it would now appear that the Department and its Sinn Fein Minister, John O’Dowd, has used the opportunity to attack the vast majority of schools with the latest proposals showing cuts of thousands of pounds for many schools.

 I have written to the principals of all the primary schools concerned and for those facing funding cuts for 2014 the likely effects will be a reduction in the employment of teachers, classroom assistants and already I have had responses from schools in anguish as they now have no choice but to lay off special needs teachers.

 Whilst the scale of the cuts vary significantly it is inevitable that some of the schools with a smaller enrolment, which were already starting on tighter budgets, may find it a lot harder to absorb them.

 It should not be necessary for other schools to be starved of the funds they need in order to achieve. I am particularly concerned that the announcement of cuts to many primary schools highlighted in early July by the Department of Education blatantly discriminates against all other primary schools, especially rural schools. The department’s plan to redirect VAT savings from voluntary schools and higher free school meals funding from the same pot that is funding all other primary schools, may initially seem sensible in helping pupils in disadvantaged areas, but after further consideration can be seen to be brutal social engineering at the expense of the those children in middle income households.

 This is totally unacceptable and I would urge parents and schools to join me in lobbying the Education Minister and his Department to reverse this decision and ensure a fairer distribution of funding.”