Ahead of the release of the NI budgetary position, school leaders' union NAHT NI has expressed deep concern that children in Northern Ireland will again pay the escalating costs of austerity.

Liam McGuckin, the NAHT Northern Ireland President, said: "If further cuts are required of the Education Authority, I struggle to see how it will meet its statutory obligations for both school budget positions and provision for children with additional and special educational needs.

"There is no scope for schools to make any savings whatsoever; indeed, the majority of our schools are already operating from deficit budgetary positions even though they have been providing only the basic educational experiences for some time. Similarly, with an SEN school estate that is seriously under-capacity, alongside the well-documented failures of appropriately placing and supporting children with additional needs, there is simply nowhere left from which to find savings."

The interim NAHT NI Director, Dr Graham Gault, said: "We will, no doubt, be told that there are difficult decisions to make. Our view is, however, that if a decision is likely to impact negatively on our children and their education, then the decision must not be taken. There should be no debate about this.

"Our children must be protected, as must be the provisions that we have created, as a society, to nourish their growth, learning and development. Instead, we all, every single member of society who has an interest in the protection of children, must stand up to politicians who make these determinations. There is money, but where it goes is a matter of their political choice."