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Childcare subsidy scheme to be extended to primary school children

Childcare subsidy scheme to be extended to primary school children

Yahoo15-05-2025

A subsidy scheme to help with the cost of childcare will be extended to primary school-age children from September 2025.
On Thursday, Education Minister Paul Givan announced a £55m package of measures for early learning and childcare that will include an extension of the Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme.
The scheme came into force in September and currently offers financial relief to households with children under primary school age.
The scheme will be extended to include children in primary school from 1 September 2025.
"This means that the working parents of school-age children will now receive the 15% subsidy, up to the capped amount, on their childcare bills," Givan said.
"When this is combined with tax free childcare, it will provide a reduction of up to 32% on childcare bills," Givan said.
More to follow.
New childcare subsidy cash 'easing the pressure'

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Childcare subsidy scheme to be extended to primary school children
Childcare subsidy scheme to be extended to primary school children

Yahoo

time15-05-2025

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Childcare subsidy scheme to be extended to primary school children

A subsidy scheme to help with the cost of childcare will be extended to primary school-age children from September 2025. On Thursday, Education Minister Paul Givan announced a £55m package of measures for early learning and childcare that will include an extension of the Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme. The scheme came into force in September and currently offers financial relief to households with children under primary school age. The scheme will be extended to include children in primary school from 1 September 2025. "This means that the working parents of school-age children will now receive the 15% subsidy, up to the capped amount, on their childcare bills," Givan said. "When this is combined with tax free childcare, it will provide a reduction of up to 32% on childcare bills," Givan said. More to follow. New childcare subsidy cash 'easing the pressure'

NI teachers offered 5.5% pay rise again
NI teachers offered 5.5% pay rise again

Yahoo

time19-03-2025

  • Yahoo

NI teachers offered 5.5% pay rise again

Teachers in Northern Ireland are again to be offered a pay rise of 5.5% as part of efforts to secure a 2024/25 pay agreement. The revised agreement also contains commitments to address concerns about teacher workloads. In February, the majority of teachers rejected an offer of 5.5% and started action short of strike in schools. A failure to deal with demands on teacher's workloads was cited by many as a reason for rejecting that previous offer. Some teachers also objected to a proposal that all industrial action be paused while pay negotiations took place. Now the teaching employers - who include the Department of Education (DE), the Education Authority (EA) and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) - are trying again. The pay rise is expected to cost Stormont around £48m in 2024/25 and £83m as a recurring cost in future years. The 5.5% pay rise will be backdated to 1 September 2024, but with the 2024/25 financial year almost at an end, time for agreement is short. The Chief Executive of CCMS, Eve Bremner, said the teaching employers had made a "significant offer". "Management Side wants to resolve this dispute and bring an end to the current industrial action, so we have worked extremely hard to secure the funding for this offer and the resources to deliver the workload measures," she said. "While we acknowledge that not every workload concern can be resolved in one year, this would serve as a positive start. "We would encourage teachers to consider the revised offer and supporting information." The details of the pay offer are on the Department of Education's website. Meanwhile, the Education Minister Paul Givan has said that some pupils in Northern Ireland will sit new tests in Maths and English at primary and post-primary school. Pupils will sit tests to assess their literacy and numeracy at the end of P4, P7 and Third form. But they will only be taken by pupils in a sample of schools, rather than all schools, and will be used to assess Northern Ireland-wide performance in literacy and numeracy. The tests are similar to Sats (standardised assessment tests) which are taken by primary school pupils in England to measure their performance, but individual pupils results will not be published in Northern Ireland. In a statement, Givan said that the tests would be introduced in the 2025/26 school year for a three-year period and would stop Northern Ireland being an "outlier." "Literacy and numeracy are the essential foundation of all education," he said. "Northern Ireland is currently without any measures of how our system is performing in both these areas at primary school and Key Stage 3." "This is not acceptable and makes us an outlier internationally in being without basic performance data." "This new approach is designed to provide a clear, evidence-based understanding of how well our pupils are developing essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing and mathematics and will provide an authoritative picture on our national educational performance." "The findings from the assessments will support curriculum development and teacher professional learning." The new tests will be created and delivered by the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) with first taking place in March 2026. NI teachers offered backdated pay rise of 5.5% NI teachers reject pay offer of 5.5%

NI teachers offered backdated pay rise of 5.5%
NI teachers offered backdated pay rise of 5.5%

Yahoo

time31-01-2025

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NI teachers offered backdated pay rise of 5.5%

Teachers in Northern Ireland have been offered a 5.5% pay rise, backdated to 1 September 2024. The offer is expected to cost the Northern Ireland Executive about £49m in 2024/25. The teaching unions were sent the offer by the teaching employers on Friday and will now put it to their members. BBC News NI understands that the unions are likely to recommend their members accept the pay deal. The deal also includes new agreements on teacher workloads. But unions will also be asked to agree that "industrial action should only be taken as a last resort in any dispute". It comes after four unions representing teachers in Northern Ireland suspended planned industrial action earlier this month to continue pay discussions. Teachers in England received a 5.5% pay rise for 2024-25 from the government in September. Members of three of the main teaching unions in Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly for strike action over pay in December 2024. But unions subsequently suspended action short of strike planned in January. The teaching employers, who include the Department of Education, Education Authority, and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, said the offer had been made "notwithstanding the unprecedented financial challenges faced by the education system in Northern Ireland. "We firmly believe that this formal offer provides a significant and fair pay increase for our teaching staff and will positively impact teachers' workload concerns," their letter to the unions said. Earlier, the education minister said he hoped to finalise a pay settlement for teachers within days. Paul Givan said his department is "close to finalising a resolution in terms of this current financial year". One of Northern Ireland's largest teaching unions, the NASUWT, said negotiations were continuing. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show, Givan said engagement with the unions had "intensified" in January when he had "a better understanding of the financial resources available". "Within the next number of days I hope we will be able to bring this matter to a conclusion, but I have to respect the processes the unions need to go through," he said. The unions' action short of strike was due to begin on 13 January and run for four weeks. NASUWT, INTO, the UTU ,and the NEU had balloted their members over what they described as the lack of "a satisfactory pay offer for 2024-25". Speaking on Friday, Givan said there was "a different negotiating framework here in Northern Ireland", which is "not part of a UK-wide process". "I've had to try to identify funding, which has been really difficult given the pressures that exist within my department, to try and get the funding I need this year," he added. "That will be, I trust, resolved soon." The teaching unions in Northern Ireland accepted a previous pay deal in March 2024, but that was a backdated covering the years from 2021 to 2024. In December, Givan said that giving teachers in Northern Ireland the 13.5% pay rise unions had asked for for 2024-25 was "simply impossible." Teachers suspend planned industrial action NI teachers unions ballot members on strike NI main teaching unions vote to accept pay offer

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