NAHT Northern Ireland has expressed profound concern at the Education Authority's latest package of cost-cutting measures, warning that many of the proposals risk simply transferring financial, operational and administrative pressures from central services directly onto schools.

The union said it fully recognises the seriousness of the financial crisis facing the Education Authority and the wider education system.

However, it warned that schools and school leaders cannot continue to be treated as the system's "shock absorbers" for years of underfunding.

The Education Authority has confirmed that it faces a funding shortfall in excess of £100 million and has announced a series of measures affecting schools, including reducing principals' delegated spending authority from £10,000 to £1,000, withdrawing contingency funding and discontinuing support for a number of school programmes.

Simon Mowbray, President of NAHT NI, said: "Nobody disputes the seriousness of the financial challenges facing the Education Authority. School leaders live with the consequences every day. However, we are deeply concerned that many of these measures do not remove pressure from the system so much as relocate it onto schools.

"Experience has repeatedly shown that savings realised centrally often materialise as additional workload locally. When support is reduced, approvals become more bureaucratic, funding streams disappear and schools are required to navigate increasingly restrictive controls and the burden invariably lands on principals and senior leaders."

NAHT highlighted particular concerns around the reduction in delegated spending authority, which will now require schools to seek approval for expenditure above £1,000 and may involve lengthy delays before decisions are taken. Schools have also been informed there will be no mechanism to challenge decisions on expenditure requests.

"At a time when school leaders are already engaged in industrial action over workload and unsustainable pressures, it is difficult to understand how additional layers of bureaucracy and oversight can be regarded as a solution. The risk is that modest financial savings are achieved at the expense of significant increases in administrative burden."

The union also criticised the withdrawal of contingency funding and the ending of programmes previously funded through earmarked allocations, warning that schools facing genuine operational pressures will now be left carrying additional financial risk.

Mr Mowbray continued: "Earmarked funding exists for a reason. It is intended to deliver specific outcomes and support agreed educational priorities. School leaders will rightly be concerned when funding streams established to support particular areas of need are withdrawn or allowed to disappear.

"The wider issue here is that schools are already operating at the limits of what can reasonably be expected. Principals have spent years finding workarounds, patching over problems and absorbing additional responsibilities simply to keep services running for children. There comes a point where there is nothing left to absorb."

NAHT stressed that the announcement should serve as a warning to policymakers.

"The unavoidable reality is that this is not fundamentally an efficiency issue. It is a funding issue. Successive rounds of cuts and savings have left the system with very little room to manoeuvre.

"When schools are told that spending controls must tighten, support programmes must close and operational flexibility must be reduced simply to manage a financial crisis, it is clear that the system is being asked to do more than its funding will allow.

"Ultimately, children will feel the consequences. The question is no longer whether services will be affected, but how severely."

NAHT has called on the Department of Education and the Northern Ireland Executive to recognise that school leaders cannot continue to carry an ever-growing share of the burden and to bring forward a sustainable long-term funding solution for education.