National Association of Head Teachers (NI)
NAHT (NI) Response to Review of Public Administration:
Policy paper 19 – Establishment of the Education Advisory Forum
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Summary of Proposals:
Paper 19 proposes the establishment of a non-decision making, consensus reaching,
26 seat Education Advisory Forum.
The Forum’s role is to provide quality advice on strategic issues in policy planning and
delivery of education.
Each sector is allocated 1 place, each practitioner type (e.g. head teacher) gets one
place and there are places for parents (2) young people (2) etc. The trade unions
collectively have 1 seat.
Nominations for appointment will be sought from within the groups represented, all
appointments are made by the Ministers- DE/ DEL. Additionally there will be a Chair
and Vice-Chair who “should not have a vested interest in any educational
organisation”.
The Forum will have a full time staff of 3.
NAHT (NI) Response to Proposals:
NAHT (NI) is not convinced an Education Advisory Forum will have an efficient and
effective niche in the educational service and has a number of concerns about the
proposals.
Firstly, have these current proposals been costed? The policy paper does not contain
any indication of the associated costs. Could they be much less than £500,000 per
annum? Can the service afford this use of resources, yet more money lost from front
line service delivery? NAHT (NI) believes that all policy proposals should be assessed
in the light of increasing financial delegation to schools and hence to classroom
teaching. It is not convinced that the proposals in Paper 19 do this.
it appears that each RPA Policy Paper proposes one or two new public bodies, yet the
purpose of RPA was to streamline service delivery so that resources are efficiently
targeted at the front line. NAHT (NI) has opposed the central funding of Sectoral
Support bodies, see NAHT response to Paper 21, and opposed the creation of two
more quangoes in Paper 20.
The proposed body will have 28 members, yet sizeable constituencies, e.g. the entire
array of trade unions involved in schools will have only one seat. In contrast, persons
representing “International Perspective” will have double this representation. The
teaching unions have a very strong professional association component to their work
and it is belittling to reduce their input to one seat, and that single seat shared with all
the other unions involved in the education service.
NAHT(NI), Carnmoney House, Edgewater Office Park, Belfast, BT3 9JQ
T: 02890 776633 E:nahtni@naht.org.uk W: www.naht.org.uk
Only one place is provided for Head teacher representation. This is completely
inadequate given the crucial role school leaders play in determining educational
outcomes. As the authoritative voice of school leaders, NAHT should have a
dedicated seat on the Forum.
The failure to create a place for the nursery sector is against all the evidence of the
sector’s strengths and the importance of intervention in early years. The voice of
nursery principals must be heard.
Finally, we do not agree that all appointments should be made by the Minister(s). How
can such a body be seen to give independent advice? The assumption that the trade
unions will be happy to accept a Ministerial appointment to the Forum is misplaced;
certainly this Union would wish to have its own voice heard in the selection process.
Conclusion:
NAHT (NI) has supported much of the RPA proposals with the aim of freeing
resources for classroom teaching and learning. NAHT (NI) shares the DENI stated
policy of maximum delegation of resources to schools and seeks its full development.
However these proposals, if implemented, will further reduce the potential for
delegation as the establishment of yet another costly new body will drain resources
away from front line services.
Certainly the DENI and DEL need to take account of the views of all stake-holders but
there is nothing in these proposals that give confidence that better or more genuine
consultation will take place. The existing fora; including the Assembly Education
Committee, GTC, NITC, Children’s’ Commissioner, Equality Commission and general
consultation with interested parties, will give as good or even better inputs as are
likely to emanate from this new body.
NAHT (NI) does not support these proposals.
Aidan Dolan
Director For Education NAHT (NI)
9 June 2009
NAHT(NI), Carnmoney House, Edgewater Office Park, Belfast, BT3 9JQ
T: 02890 776633 E:nahtni@naht.org.uk W: www.naht.org.uk