Cut Class Sizes not Teacher Numbers - Coulter
Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the North Antrim Ulster Unionist Assembly candidate, has said any future Executive at Stormont must not use the lower birth rates as an opportunity to cut teacher numbers in its bid to make financial savings in education.
Dr Coulter, who served as a member of the past Assembly’s Further and Higher Education and Training Committee and was himself a college lecturer for 18 years, emphasised that public services should be governed by quality and not just cost-effectiveness.
He added that there was “an urgent need” to begin making major choices in the direction of quality delivery of public services.
Dr Coulter continued: “In the next decade, school pupil numbers will decline as a result of lower birth rates. Instead of seeing this as an opportunity to cut down on the number of teachers and save money, any future Executive should be using this as an opportunity to cut down on class sizes. This would be a positive decision in favour of quality.
“The Finnish and Danish education systems are widely recognised as the best in the world. They also have the lowest class sizes. The Office for Standards in Education has shown in its most recent report that this is a key feature of education in both Finland and Denmark.
“We are going to have to shift education, training, health and all our public services on to a quality footing. We cannot hope to compete with low wage economies in the Far East in an endless downward spiral.
“Instead, we should be focusing more on innovation and quality and on building a high-tech, high-value added economy like the Scandanavian countries. We should also be looking at ways to rebuild the cohesiveness of our society and a greater sense of order and calm among our people,” said Dr Coulter.