Education Minister has announced plans to provide
dedicated support for controlled schools.
In September 2024, the Education Minister announced a Taskforce
to identify solutions to better support the Controlled Schools
sector. The Taskforce was chaired by Mr Mark Baker, Chief
Executive of the Controlled Schools' Support Council (CSSC) and
it comprised of senior representatives from the Education
Authority (EA) and the Department of Education.
The Taskforce completed its review in December 2024 and made
recommendations on how more effective and equitable support and
management could be provided to the sector in both the short and
long term.
Accepting the recommendations said: “Controlled
schools are a core part of our education system, comprising
almost half of all schools across Northern Ireland including
nursery, special, primary, secondary, grammar, integrated and
Irish medium schools.
“The Independent Review of Education highlighted
shortcomings in current support arrangements, and
I am pleased that the Taskforce has identified practical
steps that can be taken to improve support for our largest and
diverse school sector.
“Today marks an important step on the education reform
journey and I want to thank the Taskforce for their proposals. I
also want to thank the school leaders and other partners who
participated in the process.”
The recommendations involve two phases. In the first phase a
dedicated Controlled Schools Unit will be set up within the
Education Authority by September 2025. Subject to the progress of
primary legislation, a separate Managing Authority for Controlled
Schools will then be formed in the second phase.
The Education Minister concluded: “Changing
structures will not, in isolation, fully address the challenges
faced by schools, but improved support for the sector can play a
part in bringing about the greater consistency and equity of
support in our education system, as promoted by the Independent
Review.
“I believe that this approach can achieve the best of
both worlds – preparing for a dedicated managing authority in the
medium-term while bringing about improvements for the support for
our controlled schools in the shorter-term”.
Notes to editors:
- The controlled school sector is the largest in Northern
Ireland, comprising 49% of all schools. It is a diverse sector
which supports nursery, special, primary, secondary, grammar,
integrated and Irish medium schools – currently teaching almost
150,000 of our children and young people.
- The Independent Review of Education report highlighted the
“complicated systems for school management, which are, in
particular, suboptimal for the Controlled sector” and proposed
that “sectors should be supported with greater consistency and
equity”. It outlined the perception of controlled school leaders
that the “EA is stretched too thin and is conflicted by servicing
all school types, leaving Controlled schools relatively
unsupported.” The establishment of a dedicated Managing Authority
for Controlled Schools will be subject to the progression of
primary legislation. Efforts will be made to progress this within
the current Assembly term if possible and subject to Executive
agreement.
