Caitríona Ruane: Time to Resign

Dominic Bradley MLA has asked the Minister for Education for a breakdown of the backlog of maintenance work to be carried out on schools.

The response from the Minister contains a list of hundreds of schools owed large amounts of money - £217 million in total and many schools are owed several millions pounds each. This money is meant to be available to help improve nurseries, primary and secondary schools but the Minister isn’t providing the funding when it’s due.

It’s another gigantic blunder by the Minister. Here are some schools owed money:

Sydenham Primary     £1,603,325
St Anne’s PS     £1,954,862
Holy Trinity PS     £1,226,056
Belfast Girls’ Model     £3,586,395
Belmont House Special    £1,055,871

See the full list of schools here

Dominic Bradley MLA has said this means “many children are being taught in substandard classrooms. This shortfall is putting the health and safety of children at serious risk. There are serious questions to be answered like just how long have the Minister and her officials been aware of this? How long will the Minister allow this situation to continue? And what exactly are the implications for the pupils in our schools?”

SDLP Education Spokesperson Dominic Bradley MLA has congratulated students on their success at A-level and wished them success in their future endeavours and I also thank their teachers and parents for their hard work and support.

Mr Bradley stated:

“Once again students have produced excellent results in their A-level

And I congratulate every student on their individual achievements - each of them has made an important step in their life long learning journey.

It is very heartening that Northern Ireland A-Level students have again outperformed those in England and Wales, with 35.4% gaining an A grade compared to the 25.9% overall figure – an achievement which is contributed to by a variety of schools of different types.

“A-level results continue to improve and it is unfortunate that some have attempted to denigrate the work of students and teachers but I believe that we should salute teachers and pupils for their hard work and dedication which has meant that many ‘A’ Level students have reached their full potential.

“Results day is not an easy time for any student and some students may find that their results unfortunately do not match their expectations. It is important that they contact their careers’ teacher to explore the many possibilities still open to them nad that they do not make hasty decisions. I wish all students well in whatever direction they choose to take.”