AQW 16870/22-27

Mrs Michelle Guy
Alliance Party
Lagan Valley

Tabled Date: 16/10/2024
Answered On Date: 23/10/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education for his assessment of the recommendation for the establishment of a single authority for all schools at point 8.50 in the Independent Review of Education.

Answer:

As reported in the Independent Review of Education, the current school management arrangements are complex and cumbersome and I support the panel’s recommendation that they need to be reformed. The Report highlighted the suboptimal support for controlled schools and this is a key priority that I wish to address.

A controlled schools Taskforce has recently been established with the aim to improve effectiveness in the short-term and plan for the creation of a managing authority for controlled schools. This does not preclude work to better support other sectors in future and, under any model, I expect that managing authorities should work together to maximise consistency.