Renewal and reform: Education Minister Paul Givan MLA

Education Minister Paul Givan MLA outlines his ambition to set a “fresh direction” in education as he identifies the three years remaining of his mandate as a period of “renewal and reform”, underpinned by a number of significant announcements planned for autumn 2024.

On 3 February 2024, the DUP selected education as its top priority and its first choice of department in the restored Executive. Devolution is about making a difference. I have been determined to set a fresh direction for our education system for the next generation.

I have visited over 50 schools across every county and every sector. In doing so, I have been deeply impressed by the dedication and hard work of our school leaders, teachers, and support staff. That is why I was delighted to have secured the funding made available by the UK Government on the restoration of an Executive to resolve the long running industrial action by teachers.

I want to make sure our support staff also get a fair deal and that is why the Executive has agreed a potential resolution to the pay and grading review. All four education support staff unions have been consulted on this proposal and I welcome the positive responses to date. I look forward to the joint response from all support staff unions once their consultation processes have finished and I hope that revised pay structures for support staff can be implemented soon.

I have already made key interventions and have demonstrated that local ministers can make a difference.

In May 2024, I announced the biggest step change to education planning for a generation, with an ambitious and far-reaching programme of investment in facilities for children with special educational needs (SEN). This will transform the education and lives of our most vulnerable children and their families. My Department’s End to End Review is considering all aspects of current SEN policy and service provision, taking into account the range of recommendations for improvement that have been put forward through a variety of scrutiny reports.

My officials continue to work closely with the Education Authority to help it address the challenge of creating additional school places for the rapidly increasing number of children with special needs.

I have also secured Executive agreement to provide £150 million of earmarked additional funding over the next three years to deliver the Strule Shared Education Campus in Omagh. It will bring together 4,000 children and young people from all community backgrounds on a vibrant and dynamic education campus of world and international renown.

In the Assembly, I defended the right of schools and boards of governors to decide what is best for their learners against some at Stormont who think they know better and want to impose their own ideology on our children.

The Executive has made early learning and childcare a priority and I am delighted that a £25 million package of measures to support children, parents and providers with early learning and childcare from September 2024, has now been signed off.

This is an ambitious package of measures for early learning and childcare representing the most significant enhancement of early years investment in Northern Ireland in decades.

In May, I also ­announced an additional £80 million of capital funding for education this year, which will allow 15 important new build and extension and refurbishment projects for schools from all sectors to proceed to construction, as well as the launch of a new programme of curriculum-led investment.

I also announced a £20 million programme of investment to deliver innovative and community-informed approaches to raise achievement to reduce educational disadvantage in Northern Ireland.

I have launched a consultation on school uniform policy mindful of the growing pressure on family budgets. I feel that the cost of a school uniform should not be a factor that parents or carers need to consider when selecting which school they wish their child to attend.

Before autumn 2024 the pace of work will quicken further. It is not just about what money we have to spend, but how we choose to spend it.

I will respond to the important and far-reaching recommendations contained in the Independent Review of Education and make a series of significant announcements which will begin to shape our education system for the next generation.

I want us to attract the brightest and best to the teaching profession. That means paying people what they are worth, but also ensuring that they are appropriately supported and have good quality continuing professional development throughout their careers.

We want a curriculum which is based on international best practice and is proven to reduce inequality in education and schools where teaching methods are informed by what is best for our children’s learning.

We want qualifications which are based on the maximum time for teaching and learning and not taking and retaking exams. We need to ensure our qualifications continue to be internationally respected and accepted.

We need system level assessment data so that parents know that schools are delivering for their children and we understand how to continue to improve our system, particularly in the important areas of literacy and numeracy. And we need to see the resumption of school inspections which have largely been absent for a decade.

It must be the interests of children which shape and determine policy. We must drive up standards with high expectations for every child and a consistent belief that every pupil can achieve the highest standards.

By the autumn, I also hope to make a significant announcement on the way controlled schools – that is most schools in the state sector – are managed by the Education Authority. Current arrangements have served them poorly compared to other sectors. That is going to change.

None of this is easy in a constrained financial environment, but we cannot wait another generation for changes which are needed right now. I intend that the next three years will be a period of both renewal and reform.