Question to the Minister of Education

Minister's Answer

The Member points to the independent review of education, which references the creation of a single authority, but leaves out the recommendations. Each member of the panel said that this would be a necessary step towards the creation of a single education authority. Those independent members recognise that the controlled sector is treated in a suboptimal fashion. They support the creation of the managing authority for controlled schools, and they say that it will create an opportunity to move towards a single authority.

The Member is right: there is the integrated sector, the Irish-medium sector and other sectors, and having a single authority, if that could be achieved, is something that we should all aspire to. What we should not do, however, is keep down the only sector that does not have its own management authority. You should support them and listen to the advice of the school principals in your constituency, who are crying out for this support. They have been failed. We will wait to see how Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party treat controlled schools. At the moment, the signs are that they want to continue their acts of discrimination towards them. As Education Minister, I support all schools, and I will champion the rights of the controlled sector for equality.