Committee for Education
Welcome to the Home Page of the Committee for Education. The Committee was established to advise and assist the Minister for Education, John O’Dowd MLA, on matters within his responsibility as a Minister. The Committee undertakes a scrutiny, policy development and consultation role with respect to the Department of Education and plays a key role in the consideration and development of legislation. The Committee Chairperson is Mr Peter Weir MLA.
Here you will find information about the Committee membership and the work of the Committee.
Latest News
The Committee for Education will hold its next meeting on Wednesday 27 January 2016 at 10.00am in the Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings.
As part of the Committee Stage of the Addressing Bullying in Schools Bill, the Committee will begin informal deliberations in closed session and consider the Department of Education’s responses to stakeholder evidence in public session.
Forthcoming business will be published in the Business Diary.
Contact the Committee
Committee Clerk: Peter McCallion
Room 375, Parliament Buildings,
Ballymiscaw,Stormont,
Belfast,BT4 3XX
Tel: (028) 9052 1821
Email: committee.education@niassembly.gov.uk
Report on Measures of Educational Underachievement as a Basis for Funded School Interventions
Report on Measures of Educational Underachievement as a Basis for Funded School Interventions
At its meeting on 8 January 2014, the Committee for Education agreed that its Special Adviser should review the feasibility of the development of a measure of educational underachievement in schools based on a combination of:
- Measures of prior educational attainment undertaken by schools; and
- Free School Meal Entitlement;
Also making use of as appropriate:
- the Special Education Needs Register;
- Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measures;
- Other area-based census information including e.g. rurality, unemployment, local authority housing, level of lone parenthood, numbers of Travellers and number of large families etc.; and
- PISA / TIMSS & PIRLS information including e.g. maternal education.
The Special Adviser to advise on the benefits / shortcomings / sensitivities of such a combined measure as a basis for funding educational interventions as compared with other approaches based solely on FSME or e.g. the New Zealand decile measure etc. Finally, the Special Adviser to comment on how a measure of educational underachievement compares with FSME as a means of directing funding to schools.
The full version of the Special Adviser’s report is available here
BT Young Scientist and Technology Awards 2015
Members of the Committee for Education meet with students from Northern Ireland, who took part in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Awards 2015. To take a look at the Northern Ireland Winners, please click on the link.
L-R: Sandra Overend MLA, Trevor Lunn MLA, Jonathan Craig MLA , and former Committee Chairperson Michelle McIlveen MLA
Education Committee meet with pupils from Christ the Redeemer Primary School
Members of the Assembly Education Committee meet with pupils from Christ the Redeemer Primary School, Dunmurry, Belfast. L-R: Sandra Overend MLA, Trevor Lunn MLA, Nelson McCausland MLA, former Committee Chairperson Michelle McIlveen MLA (centre), Deputy Chairperson Danny Kinahan MLA, Jonathan Craig MLA and Chris Hazzard MLA.
Committee Calls For New Start For School Inspection
The Northern Ireland Assembly’s Education Committee recently published its report on the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) and the school improvement process.
The Committee inquiry was launched in response to proposals to increase the powers of the ETI and following concerns that some schools serving deprived areas or in particular sectors were not improving.
We met with former Committee Chairperson Mervyn Storey MLA to find out more about the report, its findings and what the Committee is recommending should happen next.
Shared Education Bill
The Shared Education Bill was introduced into the Assembly on 2 November 2015. The Bill completed its Second Stage on 9 November 2015. The Committee Stage of the Bill is underway.
Click here for further information and to learn how you can submit evidence.
Addressing Bullying in Schools Bill
The Addressing Bullying in Schools Bill was introduced into the Assembly on 30 November 2015. The Bill completed its Second Stage on 8 December 2015. The Committee Stage of the Bill is underway.
Click here for further information and to learn how you can submit evidence.
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Bill - Committee Stage
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Bill - Committee Stage
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Bill was introduced into the Assembly on 2 March 2015. The Bill successfully completed its Second Stage on 10 March 2015. The Bill completed Committee Stage on Wednesday 11 November.
A full copy of the Committee’s Report on the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Bill can be found here.
Assembly debates Committee’s position paper on Area Planning
As part of its statutory scrutiny role, the Committee for Education reviewed the Area Planning process. The Committee heard from schools, parents and stakeholder organisations on the progress of the Area Planning process to-date. The Assembly debated the Committee’s position paper on Monday 1 June 2015. The Committee’s position paper can be viewed here.
