PROTEST: Stop The Education Cuts - Release The Funds!

antrim | worker & community struggles and protests | event notice Tuesday August 15, 2006 00:37 by . - NIPSA 517 nipsa517 at seelb dot org dot uk

Protest at Department of Education HQ, Rathgael House, Balloo Road, Bangor, Thursday 17th August 2006, 12.30pm – 1.30pm, Please bring banners and placards

The Department of Education recorded an underspend of £69 million last year. This at a time when they are insisting that spending on children’s education should be slashed.

The £69million underspend should have been used to provide education services for children. £69million is sufficient to resolve every funding issue in the two hardest hit areas, the South Eastern Education and Library Board (Co Down) and the Belfast Education and Library Board (Belfast City). If that money was released there would be no excuse for special needs cuts, cuts in teacher numbers, school transport cuts, staff shortages, freeze on Classroom Assistants job evaluation, library cuts, etc.

The education trade unions are demanding that the Department immediately release this cash.

Over the last two years the efforts of the education trade unions along with the wider trade union movement has exposed the governments real policy of education cuts, forced the government to release some additional cash and exposed the undemocratic workings of the Education Boards.

Following the successful campaign by the unions to stop the SEELB Board implementing cuts, the government suspended the Board on 7th July. The government is now relying on four appointed Commissioners to implement the cuts (the first time a public body has been replaced by Commissioners since the Tory Government brought them in to Liverpool City Council in 1980s). The Commissioners are completely unaccountable, their meetings are not open to the public, press or politicians and they have been brought in with the sole intention of making cuts.

It is clear that, despite a surplus of funds, the government is still intent on making draconian cuts in education. We are still intent on resisting them.

With your help we can continue this struggle to defend children, parents and education workers from the government’s attacks.

The protest has been called by NIPSA and UNISON.