{"id":866502,"date":"2026-04-02T06:23:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/866502\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T06:23:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:23:36","slug":"three-quarters-of-northern-ireland-schools-running-out-of-money-figures-show-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/866502\/","title":{"rendered":"Three quarters of Northern Ireland schools running out of money, figures show \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost three quarters of Northern Ireland\u2019s mainstream schools are running over budget, according to latest figures.<\/p>\n

Statistics from the Department of Education, show 765 out of 1,053 schools <\/a>are either in deficit or have needed emergency financial bailouts from the Education Authority. This is equivalent to 73% of all mainstream schools.<\/p>\n

Just 288 schools were operating within their budget as of March 2025.<\/p>\n

The figures, obtained through an Assembly question to the Education Minister Paul Givan<\/a>, cover controlled, maintained, voluntary grammar and grant-maintained integrated schools across Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"Lurgan<\/a>\"‘Let’s<\/a><\/p>\n

The crisis is most acute among controlled and maintained schools, where 754 out of 964 \u2014 more than three in every four \u2014 are over budget or in deficit.<\/p>\n

Among voluntary grammar and grant-maintained integrated schools the picture is somewhat better, with 11 out of 89 in financial difficulty.<\/p>\n

This represents one in every eight schools in that category.<\/p>\n

SDLP<\/a> Opposition Education Spokesperson Cara Hunter MLA said the figures were stark but not surprising.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur schools are over budget in unprecedented numbers and facing financial pressures that have been building for years. The risks are clear: shorter school days, fewer subjects on offer, and an education system that is increasingly impoverished,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, suspensions in post-primary schools have risen by 50 percent over the last decade, teacher retention is increasingly difficult, and fewer educators are willing to take on senior management roles, all signs of a system at breaking point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst the Minister tries to rush through major reforms like TransformEd at breakneck speed, he must also focus on ensuring a well-resourced and balanced school system. How the Minister reconciles delivering a school system that protects pupils\u2019 learning, improves educational outcomes, and supports teachers, remains a challenge with no clear plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Department of Education spokesperson told The Irish News that the education system was under severe and sustained strain.<\/p>\n

\u201cYears of under funding and limited structural reform in service delivery have combined to create a financial crisis in education,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn 4 February, the Minister published a Five-Year Education Budget Strategy, which is now out for consultation. This strategy seeks to address the structural funding challenges facing Northern Ireland\u2019s Education sector by identifying sustainable and long-term solutions. Reform proposals have been guided by the clear principle of protecting teaching and learning while we put education on a sustainable financial footing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Almost three quarters of Northern Ireland\u2019s mainstream schools are running over budget, according to latest figures. Statistics from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2266,166490,110004,1144,857,925,16,15],"class_list":["post-866502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-education","tag-education-minister","tag-education-authority","tag-northern-ireland","tag-schools","tag-sdlp","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116333681654315238","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}