Rogers Says Budget Creates Dangerous Uncertainty That Minister Must Address
SDLP Education Spokesperson Seán Rogers MLA has said that the austerity budget proposed by the DUP and Sinn Féin creates uncertainty for people, families, communities and institutions across the education family.
Speaking during the budget debate today, Mr Rogers said: “The overwhelming response to the austerity budget, proposed by Sinn Féin and the DUP, is uncertainty and fear. There is a genuine sense of distress about the outworking of this budget and the effects it will have on ordinary people.
“We have been through a long and difficult period of financial stress and austerity already. Despite the shoots of recovery appearing in other places, people across the North are still asking if they are secure in their own homes, if they will receive adequate medical care, if there will be a job for their children or if they’ll be forced to leave these shores.
“That fear also exists across educational institutions. Only a few weeks ago the Minister planned to slash the aggregated schools budget, completely empty free school meals provision, gut the entitlement framework but minimise reductions to his internal departmental spend. Despite receiving an uplift in the revised budget, the Minister has not given a public guarantee that this resource will reach classrooms. He has offered no clarity for principals, no clarity for parents and no clarity for the 1000 teachers and 1500 classroom assistants who were told they may be made redundant.
“Where is the strategy? What is the Minister’s priority? With only 2 months before the next financial year, principals have received no indication of their budgets for the year ahead and Boards have no indication of when those budgets will become available. That is no way to deliver an education system and the Minister must seek to address it immediately.
“A revitalised economy can only be delivered following investment in frontline education services. The Minister must dispel uncertainty and deliver a long term, strategic, funded plan that makes our children’s education a priority. Schools cannot continue to live without clarity.”
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