NAHT Northern Ireland is warning that the education system is now operating far beyond the point of sustainability, with school budgets pushed into a deepening crisis that can no longer be managed at school level. Years of cuts and standstill budgets have stripped the system of all flexibility, leaving school leaders with no remaining options to protect the provision their pupils rely upon.

The draft multi‑year budget for 2026–2029/30 proposed by the Minister O’Dowd represents the most serious threat imaginable. The Minister of Education, Paul Givan, has himself warned that implementing the proposed budget would require inconceivable levels of redundancies which, we believe, would simply collapse the education system.

We strongly encourage parents, staff and the wider community to make their voices heard by responding to the Department of Finance’s budget consultation before 3 March 2026. A united message is essential: this budget is unacceptable for our children’s future.

Dr Graham Gault, National Secretary of NAHT Northern Ireland, said:

“School leaders have done everything in their power to protect children’s education, but the system has now passed the point where resilience can compensate for political choices. These budgets are simply not workable. Without meaningful investment and immediate action from the Executive, schools will be forced into decisions that no responsible leader should ever have to make. Our children deserve better than an education system managing its own decline. We strongly urge the Northern Ireland Executive to recognise that the proposed multi‑year budget is not viable and must be drastically revised.”

Joanne Whyte, President of NAHT Northern Ireland, added:

“The scale of what is being proposed is breath-taking and wholly detached from the reality inside our schools. Leaders are already contending with impossible decisions, and the projected budget trajectory would devastate provision for years to come. Northern Ireland’s children need a budget that invests in their future, not one that dismantles the services that support them.

In the coming days, NAHT will be supporting our members to respond to the consultation on this budget and we strongly encourage everyone with an interest in the future of education to do the same.”