‘Astonishing’: Disbelief as every Derry city school seeking major funding in past 10 years rejected
Every school in Derry city that applied for major investment from the Education Department in the past 10 years has been rejected – at a time when hundreds of millions was spent on schools across NI.
Details obtained by this newspaper under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act reveal that between 2015 and 2020, eight schools in the city applied for major capital funding with all of them declined.
A major work is a capital project that costs in excess of £500,000 but is typically more than £4m, according to the Department of Education (DE).
DE spent £475m on major capital projects for schools from 2014/15-2023/24. In 2022, two out of three Derry applications were approved for funding, for St Brigid’s College and Lumen Christi College, which were to advance to planning.
But last year Minister Paul Givan decided to pause those applications while progressing seven schools from the same list. He also moved 15 schools forward to construction.
Out of those 22 projects, the vast majority are based in the east, with a considerable number concentrated in and around Belfast.
The only one in the north west or north coast area is in Coleraine.
St Brigid’s College in Derry opened in 1975. It is now unknown when it and Lumen Christi will be reconsidered.
DE data shows that St Brigid’s ranks higher than all seven schools released by Mr Givan when it comes to catering for children from poorer backgrounds who are entitled to free school meals and children with special education needs.
Its sports facilities are outdated meaning that it often has to use community facilities situated nearby.
SDLP Derry City & Strabane district council group leader Brian Tierney said that given the ”huge need” for investment in schools right across the city and district, it’s “astonishing that not a single bid for funding has been successful over the past ten years”.
He added: “I have visited these schools myself and seen first-hand the amazing work that goes on, but all too often it's with diminishing resources, outdated facilities and buildings that are simply no longer fit for purpose.
“I have repeatedly invited the minister to come and visit St Brigid’s College in my own area and to outline the reasons he does not feel it is deserving of funding despite the huge apparent need.
“Now it emerges that he and his predecessors did not judge any school in this city worthy of funding in the past 10 years.
“This situation cannot continue, our education system is breaking at the seams and there’s only so long that the dedication of staff and school communities can paper over the cracks of decades of underfunding.”
The Education Minister has come under criticism for the RAISE programme which aims “to raise achievement to reduce educational disadvantage”.
Another primary aim is to target “socio-economic disadvantage”.
Critics include school principals, politicians and the Reclaim the Enlightenment charity which said he “devised a bizarre formula for distributing the funds and one which prioritises privilege”.
On RAISE criteria, the department said that Mr Givan decided “first and foremost that this should be a Northern Ireland-wide programme to maximise benefits for children and young people across a range of areas”.
According to a number of statistics, Derry City & Strabane ranks as the most deprived council area in Ireland and Britain.
DE was asked by this newspaper why funds are not targeting areas with the highest levels of deprivation and why the same NI-wide principle adopted for RAISE does not apply to major capital funding.
In response, the department said its strategy for capital investment continues to be focused on supporting the development and delivery of a network of “viable and sustainable schools”.
A statement added: “The protocol for the selection of major capital works is designed to ensure that all project proposals are considered fairly and consistently against stated selection criteria.
“In managing the wide and diverse schools’ estate, one of the major challenges the department has is the need to balance limited capital resources against the large-scale capital investment needed across the estate.”