SCHOOLS require sustainable and sufficient funding, rather than drip-feed allocations through monitoring rounds, Sinn Féin Education spokesperson, Karen Mullan has said.
The Foyle MLA was commenting after almost £36 million in education funding was confirmed in a monitoring round announced by the Department of Finance.
She said: “I welcome the additional resource that has been allocated to education, but a drip feed approach through monitoring rounds is only aimed at plugging gaps.
“It is not the proper mechanism for funding the education of our children.
“Schools need certainty about their budgets so as they can plan to give children the best start in life.
“The piecemeal approach of allocating resources at monitoring rounds means that the funding is never guaranteed and that it is not part of the Education Department’s ongoing funding.
“The reality is that austerity is not over.
“The Block Grant continues to be cut and that is impacting on front line services such as education.
“I will be in touch with the Department of Education and the Education Authority to ensure that the funding is allocated to pupils and schools,” added the Foyle MLA.
