Debate contribution: Education Inspections Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on 1 June 2026.

MLA

Mr Paul Givan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

1 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Education Inspections Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5581411

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will pick up from where I left off. My flagship reform programme, TransformED, offers significant opportunities for workload reduction, and we are moving into the implementation stage that will make that a reality. The new curriculum will bring greater specificity and sequencing, taking the guesswork out of what was taught before and what should be taught next. Teachers will be supported through professional development and the provision of high-quality teaching resources. New assessments are aimed at reducing workload and bureaucratic teacher-led assessment. In the meantime, the transitional arrangements that I have introduced will provide low-stake, system-level assessments distributed and marked by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) — no teacher paperwork, no moderation, no workload. Qualifications reform will provide a significant reduction in controlled assessments, again reducing workload. I will continue to support and empower our vital teaching workforce.

Obstructing a statutory independent process that is designed to safeguard children and drive improvement cannot and should not be considered legitimate industrial action. It is neither consistent with professional standards nor in the best interests of children. The Bill addresses that gap directly. It will place a clear statutory duty on those in education to cooperate with inspections, removing ambiguity once and for all. Where cooperation is not forthcoming, it will be treated as unacceptable professional conduct to be addressed through the profession's regulatory body, the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI). That is a proportionate and balanced approach. It establishes clearly and unequivocally that cooperation with inspection is a basic professional expectation. Alongside that, the Bill takes an equally important step in modernising our legislation by removing the long-standing exemption that limits the inspection of religious education. That exemption is outdated and no longer tenable. Religious education is a statutory part of the curriculum and should be subject to the same independent scrutiny as every other subject. The Bill will ensure that it is. It addresses directly the findings of the Supreme Court. The legislation will bring Northern Ireland into line with the expectation of every other jurisdiction in the British Isles, ensuring that inspection can operate effectively, consistently and without obstruction. It will remove inspection from industrial relations and normalise cooperation, allowing all of our teaching workforce to experience and be empowered through the new collaborative inspection framework. Over the past two years, we have seen what happens when inspection is allowed to function properly. Schools have entered formal intervention for the first time in a decade, gaining access to tailored and sustained support; weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements have been identified and addressed; and a programme of dissemination of effective practice has been consistently oversubscribed, demonstrating a thirst from our educators to learn from their peers across our education system. The impact is clear, the benefits real and the case for securing inspection in law undeniable. The Bill is small and focused, but it is critical. It protects a fundamental accountability mechanism, strengthens oversight across all areas of the curriculum and places the rights and well-being of children at its core. As we again face the potential of further industrial action in our education system, support for the smooth passage of the Bill is all the more urgent. Let us be clear what is at stake. In 2026, are we seriously prepared to argue that our schools do not require consistent, independent scrutiny? Have the harrowing lessons of past abuse inquiries taught us nothing? When systems lack oversight, it is children who pay the price. When systems lack scrutiny, risk does not disappear. Rather, it grows in the shadows. When it comes to the comfort of adults or the safety of children, there is no moral ambiguity. We must choose children.

We have a responsibility to act in the best interests of children and young people. The Bill does exactly that. It ensures that independent scrutiny is not contingent, partial or optional but consistent, robust and guaranteed. Safeguarding is not a procedural issue but a moral one. History will judge us on this simple question: when we had the opportunity to strengthen protection for children, did we act or did we hesitate? More widely, children are simply not getting a good deal. Without inspection, no one supports schools that struggle to improve and to thrive. Inspection is the engine of improvement. It shines a light on weaknesses, challenges complacency and drives schools to be better for every child. Without inspection, there is no honest mirror. It is only through external scrutiny that schools can truly understand where they are falling short. As Nelson Mandela said:

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."

This is the test of ours. I look forward to hearing Members' opinions on the Bill's general principles. Let those who wish to oppose it and those who wish to hollow it out explain — Mr Baker smiles smugly, as usual — why they do not believe that the protection of children should be paramount and why they believe that we should have a substandard inspection system to that which exists in the Republic of Ireland or anywhere else in the United Kingdom. I suggest to Members that children ought not to be the playthings of political advantage, which Sinn Féin now seeks to exploit. The Bill is right for the protection of our children and young people. It is right for school improvement. It was right for the Sinn Féin First Minister, who approved it. It was right for Sinn Féin's Ministers, who approved it at the Executive.

It was right for Alliance Ministers, who also approved it. I will give way to Mr Baker.

Those are the threats from Mr Baker: Sinn Féin is going to block a Bill for the protection of children because it has thrown its toys out of the pram over a 'good jobs' Bill. Let that ring in Members' ears. Sinn Féin's position is a response to the 'good jobs' Bill. We are actively working through that Bill to see whether we can move forward with it, but Sinn Féin will hold everybody else hostage — it is not the first time that republicans have behaved in that way — by behaving in a despicable manner over a Bill that is designed to strengthen school inspection and the protection of children. Why is Sinn Féin opposed to that? It is inexplicable. If the Member is telling me that, from now on, when Sinn Féin's First Minister and Sinn Féin Ministers approve a Bill to be introduced in the Assembly, it is the Assembly, not the leadership of Sinn Féin that matters, who is running Sinn Féin? Is it your First Minister and leader, your ministerial team or the Back-Benchers on the Education Committee? Who is actually running Sinn Féin? For Sinn Féin to hold us hostage unless it gets its way and to vote down legislation for the protection of children and the improvement of schools is an appalling way to do business. Let the public see that for what it is: shameful politics from Sinn Féin. I look forward to responding to all points raised by Members in due course.

1,202 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Uncertain: weak signal Education structures, integration and community division

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification