Education

Sam Gardiner MLA, the Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for Upper Bann, has revealed that the Southern Education and Library Board has lost Library Books worth more than £120,000 in the last three years.

David McClarty MLA, Ulster Unionist Party spokesperson for Employment and Learning has welcomed the news that Sir Reg Empey has launched the independent review of variable fees and student finance. He has also defended the Minister for Employment and Learning for his proposals to increase tuition fees next year in line with inflation. Speaking in response to protests recently by students against the plan Mr. McClarty pointed out that not to implement the increase would damage our universities' ability to deliver on their current plans and compete in a very aggressive higher education market.

The Ulster Unionist Party has today questioned the DUP's policy on education saying that it is currently undistinguishable from that of Sinn Fein.

Following the Education Minister's failure to present any details on a way forward over post-primary transfer, UUP Education Spokesperson Basil McCrea has called for her to either reinstate the 11+ for a 3 year period or resign.

Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott has raised his concern over figures released by the Department of Education this week in relation to funding in Irish language schools.

Ulster Unionist MLA and education spokesperson for the party, Basil McCrea has said that more needs to be done to help disadvantaged groups in Northern Ireland including Protestant boys who under-achieve as a whole within the education sector.

The Northern Ireland Assembly has supported a UUP Motion on extending the life of the 11+ by 3 years. The Party's Education Spokesperson, Basil McCrea, has now called on the Minister to implement the Motion, as she is required to do by the Ministerial Code.

Ulster Unionist Party Educational Spokesperson Basil McCrea MLA has welcomed the joint statement by the educational spokespersons of the 4 main churches.

Ulster Unionist MLA David McNarry brought forward his Private Members Bill regarding School Estates to the Assembly today which proposes that local communities can use school facilities outside of the school day.

Mid-Ulster Assemblyman Billy Armstrong has supported calls in the Assembly for extra provision and support for young people leaving special-needs schools at 16 and over 19 years of age so that they can further their education and seek meaningful employment.

THE Ulster Unionist Party has raised concerns over an autism centre which has been planned for Middletown in Armagh.

Roy Beggs MLA, and Ulster Unionist Party Spokesperson for Children and Young People has today welcomed the news that the Minister for Education has allocated a further £5million for the Extended School Programme in this financial year. Mr. Beggs and his Ulster Unionist colleagues have strongly advocated an increase in the Extended Schools funding since cuts were announced in the Budget. Mr Beggs has spoken of his pleasure upon receiving the news in a letter from the Education Minister, whilst questioning the long-term security of the programme.

Following responses from the Minister of Education today during Question Time in the Assembly, Ulster Unionist MLA Basil McCrea has said that the Minister is declaring war on Primary Schools throughout Northern Ireland.

David McNarry Ulster Unionist MLA for Strangford today brought forward a Private Members Bill to the Education Committee proposing that local communities use school facilities outside of the school day.

Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has called on people of all ages to ensure they have qualifications in literacy and numeracy.

Basil McCrea, Ulster Unionist MLA for Lagan Valley and party spokesperson for education, on the first day back at school has condemned the Minister for Education for failing to remove uncertainty over post-primary transfer. This uncertainty is resulting in Year 6 teachers being unable to plan for the forthcoming year. The Ulster Unionist believes that the only way to bring certainty to parents is to extend the life of the existing 11+.

Following today's excellent GCSE results - in which Northern Ireland again significantly out-performed England and Wales - UUP Education Spokesperson and Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea has congratulated Northern Ireland's young people, parents and teachers on their success.

Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has congratulated students from the constituency who did so well in this year's exams, praising them as "shining examples of hard working and dedicated pupils".

Testing is important. Testing is good. Those basic facts must be the starting point for any consideration of our exam system. There are those who would try to pretend otherwise. But teachers, parents, employers and young people know different. Exam results are not the only way of knowing how good a job a school does - but they are an important part of it. Exams should give young people and their parents' confidence about where their skills and abilities lie. Exams should provide employers with a trustworthy assessment of a young person's aptitudes.

Roy Beggs Ulster Unionist MLA, having obtained figures on the severity in reduction of extended school funding for local Primary Schools has written to the Minister seeking an explanation as to why Schools in Larne, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey were particularly severely affected by her reduction in extended school funding.

Welcoming the news that Northern Ireland students have once again topped the UK league table in A Level performance, UUP Education Spokesperson and Lagan Valley MLA has urged that, amidst the congratulations, it should not be forgotten that the Sinn Fein Education Minister intends to dismantle the very education system that allows Northern Ireland's young people to excel.

Responding to comments made in a local paper by the DUP's Alistair Ross regarding acedmic selection, UUP Education Spokesperson Basil McCrea MLA has suggested that Mr. Ross and the DUP spend more time addressing the crisis facing Northern Ireland education rather than making inaccurate partisan statements.

Following the publication of party papers on post-primary transfer policy Ulster Unionist education spokesperson Basil McCrea highlighted what he believed are the key aspects surrounding his party's thinking while addressing the significant and fundamental flaws in the Minister's approach to a subject which has received open and arduous debate.

Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott has stated his worry about the ever increasing amount of money spent on supply teachers in Northern Ireland each year. He was speaking after figures released to him by the Department for Education showed that between 2002/03 and 2006/07 the amount spent on employing supply teachers rose from almost £45 million pounds to just over £51 million pounds, an increase of approximately 13%.

Danny Kennedy MLA, the Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, has demanded a major review of Primary School funding.

ULSTER Unionist MLA Basil McCrea has called on the Minister of Education to act swiftly to address the lack of funding within the primary sector describing as "disgraceful" her failure to provide much needed finances for head teachers.

ULSTER Unionist George Savage MLA speaking during an adjournment debate at Stormont this week congratulated his UUP colleague the Minister for Health, Michael McGimpsey for stepping in and providing much needed money for community groups in Northern Ireland.

Sam Gardiner MLA, the Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for Upper Bann, has called on Sir Reg Empey, the Minister of Employment and Learning who is in charge of the Province's Further Education Colleges, to guarantee that Leisure and Recreation classes will continue in the Province's Colleges.

The Ulster Unionist Party are hosting an education meeting giving members of the public the opportunity for discussion and debate on issues concerning the future of the education system in Northern Ireland.

Roy Beggs Ulster Unionist MLA for East Antrim believes that there is confusion within the Department of Education as to how the Minister intends to inform parents of her proposed post-primary transfer procedures. Mr. Beggs has accused the Education Minister of making public statements before examining the options and determining the cost implications.

ULSTER Unionist Party MLA, Tom Elliott has expressed his concern following statistics released by the Minister for Education in relation to the number of instances of violence within schools in Northern Ireland.

THE ongoing debacle surrounding the future of the education system in Northern Ireland will once again be open for discussion as Basil McCrea plays host to an educational debate in Lisburn next week.

One in six primary school principals in Lisburn have been forced off work by stress related illness in the last year. Seven principals from 42 primary schools in the area have taken time off work in the past year.

Mid-Ulster MLA Billy Armstrong has met with the Education Minister at Stormont today (Monday) in a bid to impress upon her the need to keep Maghera High School open.

Upper Bann Ulster Unionist Assembly Member George Savage MLA today rounded on the Education Minister on her over-emphasis on the Irish language, as the crisis in education gets worse by the day. George Savage asked the Minister of Education to detail (i) the delays; and (ii) the costs incurred by her department, in translating answers to written Assembly questions into Irish.

Ulster Unionist Party Education spokesperson Basil McCrea has hit out following a revelation in the media this morning which suggested that Caitriona Ruane, Minister for Education had gone against the wishes of her senior advisers and inspectors approving a new Irish language primary school in Londonderry.

ULSTER Unionist MLA Roy Beggs has expressed his discontent with the Minister for Education, Caitriona Ruane who he believes has completely failed to address the issue of Extended Schools Funding throughout the Province.