Jon Burrows MLA, Education spokesperson, has called on the Minister of Education to urgently review how school closure decisions are communicated, following chaotic scenes across Northern Ireland during Friday’s storm.

Mr Burrows said, “While safety, especially the safety of our young people, must always come first, the lack of clear and timely communication from the Education Authority caused chaos for schools and families across the country. Classrooms in Antrim, Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh were already filled when emails from the Education Authority landed in inboxes instructing schools to close from midday.

“As a result, parents, pupils and staff were left scrambling with very limited time to make alternative arrangements. Had schools and families been notified even a couple of hours earlier, many of these chaotic scenes could have been avoided.

“School leaders do an outstanding job under difficult circumstances, but they need sufficient warning to plan ahead. Last-minute notifications put staff under enormous pressure and leave parents struggling to arrange childcare and transport. There should have been much better communication and coordination between the Department of Education and the Met Office ahead of Friday’s storm. The severe weather had been forecast for several days, and it is understandable that many schools are angry about how this was handled.”

Mr Burrows has called for a multi-agency debrief to identify lessons learned and strengthen contingency planning:

“The Minister of Education should direct a multi-agency review so that in future information is communicated more quickly to schools, parents and partners such as Translink. In a digital era, critical information should not be delivered solely by email. The Minister should urgently explore the use of a mobile communication app to ensure vital updates reach schools and families faster and more reliably.”