Education Minister faces calls to commit to investment in Irish medium sector

Education Minister Paul Givan is facing calls to commit to investment in the Irish medium sector after he said that he revealed his Department will “not be able to invest across all sectors with the current levels of capital funding.”

The Minister, who previously oversaw cuts to the Líofa bursary while he was in charge of the Department for Communities, was responding to a written question from People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll which asked the Minister to outline how much financial support he will provide for capital build projects in the Irish medium sector.

In the response which has been seen by Belfast Live, Education Minister Paul Givan outlined how the Department has invested over £51m in capital projects in the Irish medium sector within the last decade but warned that they are “at risk of not delivering on the most basic requirements to keep schools open, children safe and to provide places for our most vulnerable learners.”

“The DUP has been consistently hostile to the Irish language and many will fear that the Irish medium education will be the first on the chopping block in the context of an austerity budget.

“During his time as Communities Minister, Paul Givan infamously cut the Líofa bursary and was met with creation of the Dream Dearg campaign. The Irish language community will be determined to ensure he does not follow a similar path in this mandate.

“Over 60 per cent of children in the Irish medium sector are educated in temporary accommodation. Gaelscoileanna have been excluded from the last three capital build announcements under successive DUP Education Ministers.

“If the Minister is truly committed to equity in education then he must commit to investment in the Irish medium sector, which has been underfunded for years.”

There are a number of projects either underway or in planning within the Irish medium sector across both the minor and major capital works programmes, this includes five new builds for Irish-medium primary schools with estimated costs in excess of £39m.