Debate contribution: North/South Ministerial Council: Education

Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on 28 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Paul Givan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

28 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statements

Heading

North/South Ministerial Council: Education

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5509695

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Normal protocol is that Members ought to ask questions that relate to the statement. That was not in the statement, so it is not relevant. The leader of the Opposition should focus on asking questions that relate the statement. Rather than just make that point to the Member, however, I will say that it is an issue of concern for me. It is an issue that I have recently raised again with the Minister for the Economy, because responsibility for higher education access rests with the Department for the Economy. I very much would support the Republic of Ireland giving proper recognition to the qualifications that our young people have, and I will happily engage collectively to try to get the Republic of Ireland to respect qualifications from Northern Ireland. It was not on the agenda and was not a matter of discussion, but it is an active issue, outside of that meeting, that I am pursuing.

Within the SEN work, the update that Stephen Douthart provided on Middletown was very much about what more it can do with the expertise that it has to provide support to schools to address autism. That was a matter that we discussed. A landscape review of the Middletown Centre for Autism will be carried out, and that will provide an opportunity to ensure that the current purposes for which it is commissioned are being fulfilled. It is also an opportunity to look at what more it could do. We discussed where we can enhance that provision, subject to all the caveats around how that can be resourced and so on. I think that the landscape review, which will be commissioned shortly, is an opportunity to consider and address that particular issue.

The Member is right: there are better outcomes for young people in the education system in the South. That is why we have looked at it and why we have incorporated into our transformation programme some of what the Republic of Ireland is doing. For that to be brought into the process, a former chief inspector in the Republic of Ireland is part of the international ministerial advisory panel, directly inputting into the processes that we are taking forward. We are harnessing that information. The South faces similar issues with the increasing numbers of children with SEN and how to work through those issues, so my officials are in constant engagement with those in the Republic so that we can learn from what they have been doing. I believe that the South can learn from some of the practices that we are taking forward. Where there can be joint collaboration on these endeavours, I am very much up for that happening. I have already acted to incorporate input from the South formally through my processes, and I will continue to do so.

Yes, I can, because SEN was discussed at the North/South meeting. We talked about the need for capital provision for special schools. The Member's question is related. I can say to the Assembly on this issue that, over the past decade, particularly the past five years, there has been extraordinary growth in the demand for specialist places, with over 30,000 children having more-complex needs and a formal statement of SEN, something that we touched on and that is shared in both jurisdictions. As a result, there has been a 49% increase in the number of pupils attending a special school and a 205% increase in the number of pupils requiring a place in specialist provision in mainstream schools (SPiMs). Projections indicate that demand will continue to rise over the next 10 years, meaning a need for over 6,000 additional places in our special schools and over 500 new SPiMs places. The SEN capital investment programme provides a structured approach to meeting that demand around maintenance, new specialist classes and extension and refurbishment of special schools. In the past two years, there has been an investment of over £110 million in the SEN capital investment programme. That has created 242 SPiMs places, and 98 additional classrooms in special schools. We have had two major extensions, at Kilronan School and Lisanally Special School. Those are now on-site, and the business case is under review by the Department of Finance for the first of the new Belfast schools. A key aspect of SEN capital investment was the publication of the special schools plan of action. This is an important issue, and we have been dealing with it in how we can move it forward. To update the Assembly: I recently decided to approve three major priority capital projects in the special schools plan of action to allow them to move to the planning and design stages. They are a 320-pupil new-build school for Longstone, a 220-pupil extension to St Gerard's Special School and a new 500-pupil special school in south Belfast. Those are three significant projects that I have approved to move into the planning phases to get to the pre-tender stage. That decision builds on my previous decisions for Sperrinview, Knockevin and the second campus at Ardnashee.

Yes, it is a challenge. It is why we have invested in early years intervention through the early learning childcare strategy. Notably, one principal informed me that of the 26 nursery-school children that she has, 13 did not come toilet trained. That figure will alarm people: half of the pupils in a nursery-school class were not toilet trained. Rather than nursery-school teachers being able to engage children in learning, they are having to provide them with basic toilet training. That speaks to a real challenge. It is impacting on the early years provision. It needs to be addressed, and not just within education. Before those children got to nursery school, there was clearly a failure by other services to detect that issue and to support those families.

I appreciate that, but given that I gave latitude to Mr O'Toole, I will give latitude to my colleague who asked that question. I answered Mr O'Toole. In order to give equality of treatment, which I am sure that all Members would support, it would be unfair of me to discriminate against my colleague from North Belfast. He is right about the engagement. North/South engagement is important. So, too, is east-west engagement. I have had many meetings with my counterparts; most recently, I met Louise Sandher-Jones MP, Minister for Veterans and People. That was to discuss how the armed forces covenant is being implemented within education. I recently met the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP; the Rt Hon Nick Thomas–Symonds MP, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office; Matthew Patrick MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office; Olivia Bailey MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) at the Department for Education. The list goes on.

That engagement takes place whether it is North/South or indeed east-west.

I thank the Member for that question. It was discussed at the meeting by way of an update on a number of those RAISE projects. I am excited about the various projects that have come forward and that we are now moving into that implementation period. All of that is being funded through the Shared Island initiative, and Ministers have indicated that the support that has been there will continue. It is in the region of around €20 million; that is what funds the RAISE initiatives. I hope that we can move now. Having implemented the schemes, I want to open up discussions on how we can continue them, and not just for a two-year period on which the original offer was based. How can we extend that? I know that the South is open to that conversation taking place. We need to see the roll-out of the various projects. That allows evaluation and any refinement to take place, to allow us to go back to the South and say, "Can we continue with this funding? Here is how we would change it", or, based on the evidence, it may not need to be changed at all if it proves to be successful. The South is open to having that conversation with us. I will certainly take any opportunity to get funding from whatever source.

I can. I am delighted to advise that my Department is progressing plans for a new priority special school called Quillyburn Special School, which will be located on a greenfield site owned by the Education Authority on the Quillyburn Road in Dromore. The new Quillyburn Special School will provide state-of-the-art, purpose-built accommodation for up to 275 pupils that is designed to meet a wide range of learning, therapeutic and well-being needs. I am particularly pleased that Quillyburn Special School will be co-located alongside a new-build Dromore High School on the same site. It is important, though, that I am absolutely clear: these will be two separate schools, each with its own leadership, ethos, identity and educational mission, tailored to the distinct needs of their respective school communities. At this stage, we are moving through the various processes, but I am pleased with the progress that is being made and the prioritisation that is being given to the development of that location. At the meeting, we discussed the importance of SEN, SEN placements and capital investment in our special schools, and, today, I have been able to update the House on some areas where we are moving forward on the planning stages for three special schools. As well as those, Quillyburn Special School, co-located with Dromore High School, is a priority, and we are making good progress on it. I commend all the school leaders who have been involved in that process.

I am delivering the reform. There are clear plans and they are being implemented. That is why £27·5 million of funding was allocated by the Finance Minister on the transformation of SEN. We are already taking forward tangible changes that are having a positive impact. I would not present the Republic of Ireland as a panacea when it comes to how it deals with SEN. It has challenges and so have England, Scotland and Wales. The Labour Government have had to bail out local authorities to the tune of billions of pounds because of the challenges that they face. The challenges that we have are not unique. They are happening everywhere. However, we have a clear pathway to try to make improvements here. We are making improvements. Is it good enough? No, it is not. We must be better at identifying placements earlier — we are making progress on that — and at getting new schools. We need to do better, and that is a collective endeavour that requires all of us in the Executive to provide the appropriate support. Parents should not have to fight for basic support. They should not have to get a statement in the first instance; they go down that route because they do not get support. We need to change our systems so that there is support in schools for the early years without parents having to get a legal document to say, "You must", because that does not always produce the support. That is why we need to make the changes that we propose.

Numerous schemes operate through various funding mechanisms. Targeting social need — TSN — funding goes into all schools, including those in working-class Protestant communities, in every sector. The extended schools programme is another scheme that operates on the basis of free school meal entitlement, which can unlock funding for schools in those areas. The RAISE programme is designed to address educational underachievement, albeit it is not available in every part of Northern Ireland but only in the areas that are selected for it. The question that I have posed is this: how effective is the expenditure, and is it being used to achieve the purpose for which it was allocated? It is a legitimate question, and I would welcome Members' further scrutiny of that, because we need to ensure that the funding is spent effectively. I want to make sure that we tackle educational underachievement. That is one of the underpinning reasons for the entire TransformED project. If we are to close the attainment gap between the well-off, whose families can afford private tutors and extra support, and those from working-class families who do not have the same privilege, we need to give them equal opportunity in every classroom in every school. The new curriculum and our new approaches will help to close that attainment gap. Those who advocate for the working class, as I do, will support the transformation that we are taking forward.

2,118 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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