Once again it seems we are facing a new controversy in the Education sector. The Belfast Telegraph reports that…
“The Department of Education is facing calls for full transparency after £710,000 was awarded to a school in Londonderry following a private meeting with DUP ministers — despite it not making a direct application for the money. It comes after the Belfast Telegraph revealed that all bar two schools in Derry city that applied for major funding over the past 10 years were rejected – and both successful schools’ allocations were subsequently paused. Education Minister Paul Givan, his department and the Education Authority (EA) have been urged to give all schools an equal opportunity after approving the cash for a football pitch at Lisneal College…
Documents obtained by this newspaper under Freedom of Information show that on June 3 last year Mr Givan and DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons met with Michael Allen, headmaster of Lisneal College.Foyle MLA Gary Middleton was also present, alongside departmental officials and a coach from Maiden City FC.”
Other parties are NOT happy to put it mildly
“Foyle SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin said there was a need for “full transparency” on the issue.
“Every school must have the same opportunity to access funding and no school should be prioritised over another without demonstrable reason,” she added.
“The lack of funding for schools in Derry over the last decade shows a real neglect from successive ministers, particularly given the huge demand for improvements at local schools. I’m glad that the need for a new pitch at Lisneal College was recognised by the minister; this is a fantastic school that has taken huge steps in recent years, due in no small part to its excellent leadership team.
“I only wish the minister was willing to engage positively with other schools throughout this city in need of similar funding.”
People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin said while students at Lisneal deserve the “highest quality facilities”, the issue here is “why so many other schools have been turned down for capital funding over the last 10 years”.”
Whilst the Education ministry cannot be said to be easy job, it does seem that Paul Givan is developing a knack for making the headlines for all the wrong reasons and on an almost monthly basis as well.
In October the minister received harsh criticism for meeting representatives of the Loyalist Communities Council where (admittedly amongst other points of discussion) they outlined their opposition to an Irish language school being opened in East Belfast. Minister Givan found the time to meet with the LCC whereas he hadn’t been able to fit a meeting with Irish language group Foras na Gaelige up to that point.
In November, he was accused of squandering an opportunity to tackle poverty by selecting a set of criteria which saw funds from the RAISE program directed from areas of greatest need to areas where the need was considerably less (need being adjudged by the proportion of pupils availing of free school meals). One school in Lisburn that charges £5,000 in fees receiving support from the scheme while a school in Newtownards where 71% of pupils avail of free school meals not qualifying was highlighted by ‘Reclaim the Enlightenment’ in their article on the matter.
And earlier in January, Givan took a lot of flak by refusing the application of two schools in North Down for integrated status, though the minister claimed his hands were tied by legislation. Many other MLA were outraged by the decision and as we noted in our own article at the time much of the anger over the decisions stemmed from the belief that Givan may have been following the party line of the DUP (which is hostile to the integrated sector).
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