THE Department of Education is to review a decision that could lead to thousands of children losing their free school meal entitlements after Sinn Féin warned that it was not compliant with Equality regulations.
The party’s Education Spokesperson Karen Mullan MLA welcomed the move and pledged to continue campaigning to ensure no child loses their entitlement to free school meals.
The Foyle MLA commented: “Sinn Féin has been warning over the past number of weeks that proposed changes to free school meal eligibility criteria could see 2,000 children lose their entitlement.
“We argued strongly that it was wrong for any child to lose their entitlement because of a technical change rather than an improvement in their circumstances.
“Sinn Féin made a strong submission to the Department in which we pointed out that this was in breach of their own Equality obligations given the negative impact on so many children.
“The Department has today confirmed that it is reviewing how it’s own equality processes were handled in relation to this decision.
“I very much welcome that and will continue to engage with education officials over the coming weeks to press for a solution that ensures no child loses their entitlement,” added the MLA.