AQW 11390/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 02/12/2020
Answered On Date: 07/12/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the number of Boards of Governors MLAs may sit on; and (ii) the number of schools that currently have MLAs on their Board of Governors.

Answer:

Article 12 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (as amended) provides that, except with the approval of the Department of Education, no person shall at the same time hold office as a member of more than three Boards of Governors of grant‐aided schools.

Depending on the school sector, a Board of Governors can comprise members elected by parents and teachers; foundation governors or members nominated by transferors or trustees; and members appointed or nominated by the Department and the Education Authority.

My Department holds details only in respect of governors that it appoints or nominates and is therefore unable to detail the number of schools that currently have MLAs on their Board of Governors.