Job cuts will devastate education
Responding to comments made by Education Minister John ODowd that 500 teaching jobs and 1,000 non-teaching jobs could be lost as a result of budget cuts, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers union in Northern Ireland, said:
“The NASUWT has warned from the outset that this budget would have a profoundly devastating impact on educational provision that could damage the lives of children and young people for generations to come.
“These job cuts will result in a colossal loss of talent, experience and skill from our schools.
“The scale of proposed redundancies will leave schools struggling to deliver the same level of education with far fewer teachers and support staff.
“The NASUWT will continue to oppose these redundancies and will not accept that remaining teachers will simply absorb the additional workload which will be the result of these cuts.”
Justin McCamphill, NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland, said:
“Stormont may have difficult choices to make, but the scale of the job cuts being imposed on education will have profound consequences.
“Northern Ireland’s sustained economic recovery will not be secured by deep cuts to the school workforce, who do so much to nurture and develop the next generation.”
