Speaking ahead of today’s debate in the Assembly on a new Irish language secondary school near Dungiven TUV Benbradagh councillor Boyd Douglas said:
“The decision of the Education Minister to open an Irish medium post primary school against all the advice offered to his Department highlights the blatant inequality in education under Sinn Fein rule.
“Recently we saw Sinn Fein move to close one of the top performing schools in Northern Ireland, Enniskillen Collegiate, in spite of the fact that it is an oversubscribed school which doesn’t grow further simply because of the cap imposed upon its numbers. Yet here we have the Minister approving a school which fails the test in terms of enrolment and yet it is approved.
“It is also worth considering the ongoing scandal surrounding the denial of funding to Burnfoot Playgroup.
“The playgroup provides an essential service in Dungiven area and with its close proximity to the local primary is ideally placed for busy parents who can drop children at school and toddlers at the playgroup.
“Burnfoot Playgroup is used and appreciated by many parents and yet it receives no funding from government or any agency of government.
“Bizarrely funding have been denied three years running.
“This is in stark contrast to the pre-school provision for children in the Irish medium and maintained sectors in the area where every place is funded by the Education and Library Board.
“It is simply scandalous that while public money is lavished on the Irish medium sector by the Department of Education Burnfoot Playgroup has to limp along.
“Sinn Fein talk about building an “Ireland of equals” yet there is precious little evidence of equality in this case.
“I am calling upon the local Education Board to explain why Burnfoot has been left as the Cinderella of the local education scene and reverse their decision to withhold funding. Here we have a service which is already established and valued by the local community. It is high time that the powers that be in education officialdom placed the same value on it”.