Speaking today at the Annual Prize-Giving in Garvagh High School, MEP Jim Allister attacked the inequity in funding, particularly the preferential funding given to Irish-medium and Integrated schools.  In the course of his remarks, Mr Allister said,

“Let me say that Government also has to put back into the community.  They take our taxes in abundance, but are less eager to spend in the crucial sector of education.  Moreover, expenditure often is not even-handed.  The so-called common formula of funding is meant to treat all schools equally, yet special extra provision is made for Irish-medium and Integration schools.  That is neither fair nor acceptable, particularly when we recall that integrated schools have ready access to other additional sources of funding, including Trusts and PEACE funding from Europe.  I regard it as utterly unacceptable that to date the integrated sector has had 23.6M Euro of PEACE funding from Brussels.  It seems to me that the Controlled sector has become the Cinderella of school funding, particularly in contrast to the favoured and much touted integrated sector. 

One policy approach well illustrates the point.  It only takes 120 pupils to get funding for an integrated secondary school, but if the numbers at Garvagh High or any other controlled school fell it would be closed long before it got down to anything like 120. Such discrimination against the controlled sector is wrong.  Real equality of funding, not preference for pet projects, should be the order of the day.”