“We cannot stand by and watch as our education system is ripped apart”

County Derry pupils will no longer be able to take part in cycling classes as the Department for Infrastructure makes more cuts.

The cycling proficiency scheme has been running for more than 50 years and has trained almost half a million pupils.

East Derry SDLP MLA Cara Hunter condemned the decision to withdraw funding as yet another blow for young people during a wave of cuts.

“We cannot stand by and watch as our education system is ripped apart with our pupils being the ones to suffer. We need to see significant investment that recognises the pressures facing the education sector and values the staff who give so much,” she said.

“We are being contacted on a daily basis by parents, teachers and pupils who are quite frankly worn down by the continued cuts to education programmes and services.

“The SDLP fully supports the call made by the Chief Executive Officers of the key educational bodies here in the North for sustainable and sufficient funding for the education sector.

“We also support their call for a clear and comprehensive education strategy that allows our children and young people for generations to come to have the best possible start in life.”

The programme teaches children who can already cycle to do so safely, including what to wear, bicycle maintenance and the rules of the road.

In the 2021/22 school year over 300 primary schools and around 5,600 primary pupils took part in cycling proficiency classes.

In that year the department spent around £32,000 on payments to teachers and has spent about £42,000 so far this school year.

Schools that planned to run the classes after Easter have been told that the department can no longer afford to pay teachers to deliver the scheme.

The funding decision comes hot on the heels of the termination of the Healthy Happy Minds Therapeutic and Counselling Service Programme.

The Education Authority also made cuts to the 'lollipop' road crossing patrol staff in February.

“Hezlett Primary School in Castlerock is one of a number of schools to lose their crossing patrol and facing significant safety concerns as a result of being beside a busy road.

“A principal in my constituency told me just recently that in his 34 years of teaching, the situation has never been so grim,” Ms Hunter added.