Eligibility for RAISE programme funding must be based on objective need, says McMurray

He was speaking following a debate in the Assembly which saw an Alliance amendment passed calling for a review of the Department of Education’s RAISE programme’s targeting criteria.

Mr McMurray has said: “The RAISE programme seeks to address educational underachievement in Northern Ireland, and that’s something that should be broadly welcomed. It represents an important step towards improving achievement for all our young people.

“However, under the current criteria as administered by the Department of Education, it has left the whole constituency of South Down without any investment from this scheme. That is despite South Down ranking amongst the five constituencies with the highest percentages of child poverty in Northern Ireland, with it being stated by the NI Executive’s Children and Young Peoples’ Strategy that ‘social disadvantage has the single greatest impact on educational attainment’.

“As such, when the issue was raised in the Assembly on Tuesday, I and the Alliance Party called on the Education Minister to urgently review the criteria under which this funding was allocated, and we’re glad to see agreement amongst most of the other parties.

“It is bizarre that an area as large as South Down with the aforementioned multiple deprivation score should not have any programmes in receipt of RAISE funding.

“A review of the criteria must ensure that funding is directed to benefit the children and young people who are most impacted by socio-economic deprivation and who experience the highest levels of underachievement. Every young person here deserves all the tools they need to achieve a bright and prosperous future.”