Education Minister announces school buildings funding

The Education Minister Martin McGuinness has announced another round of investment packages to reduce the backlog of work on school buildings.

The first part of the investment includes 15 projects to be taken forward under the conventional school building programme. This will represent an investment of over £54 million spread across 11 primary schools, three post-primary schools and a new special needs school.

The second round of the package provides for work on seven schools - with a total capital value of about £53 million - to be taken forward under Public Private Partnerships (PPP) schemes.

The Minister indicated that this investment was on top of the ongoing capital and maintenance work across the schools' estate.

Mr McGuinness said: “The underlying objective is to ensure the highest possible standard of education for all children and the provision of suitable educational facilities is one of the essential ingredients that will help us to achieve this.”

The minister added: “The need is great. The three highest priority categories of our schools capital planning lists have a backlog of some £500 million.”

Since devolution £220 million has been committed to new school buildings under the education department's capital programmes and the executive's Programme for Funding.

Thirty-six projects are currently competing for a place in this year’s programme at an estimated cost in excess of £200 million – exceeding the resources available.

Mr McGuinness said that he faced difficult decisions in deciding which projects to approve, but that his objective had been to ensure that the allocation of resources was based on educational need. He then disclosed the details of the projects selected for a place in the £54 million conventional programme.

These included 11 primary school projects, a new school to replace Hill Croft Special School in Newtownabbey, and two major projects in the post-primary school sector – new premises for La Salle Boys’ School in Andersonstown and a new school for Drumragh Integrated College in Omagh. Also included was a new gymnasium for Crumlin High School.

“This major capital investment programme is a further example of local politics working and the development of partnerships within the education service. I am confident that this programme will be of huge benefit to our children and teachers and will contribute to the executive’s goals for the education sector and the wider economy,” Mr McGuinness added.

(GMcG)