£1.3m 'error' in school budgets

More than 1,200 schools have been effected by the error

More than 1,200 schools in Northern Ireland have been given the wrong budget for this year, the Department of Education has admitted.

The total gap in the budget was £1.3m and it is not clear how the department will make up the shortfall.

Methodist College, Belfast was given £13,000 more than it should have and Mount Gilbert College got £6,000 less.

The schools which got more will not have to repay it and those underpaid will get the money they are owed.

The department described it as a "minor error" in its accounting and was spotted by the department's own team, preparing next year's budget.

More than 500 schools will have been given less money than they should have, and more than 600 were given more than they should have.

Unions

A teachers union, the NASUWT, welcomed the extra money but said schools on tight budgets may have made teachers redundant on the basis of incorrect figures from the government.

The National Association of Head Teachers said even a few hundred pounds makes a difference to small schools on tight budgets.

They said some principals in small schools will have damaged their health by making needless cuts in their administration back-up .

However, the NAHT congratulated the department on coming clean on the error and not clawing back the overpaid budget.