THE new education budget undervalues the worth of primary school children, a leading union has claimed.
The Ulster Teachers' Union said while the gap between primary and post-primary funding had been narrowed, an unacceptable inequality remained.
All grant-aided schools were last week informed of their budgets for the next financial year, with every school spared cuts.
Education minister John O'Dowd made the announcement after making final decisions on major changes to the way schools are funded.
Mr O'Dowd had proposed numerous changes to budgets, which would benefit those with high numbers of poor children but he faced a storm of protest over his reforms.
While more money was to be made available to help children from poorer families, it would have been taken from other schools' budgets.
The minister has now promised to spare hundreds of primary schools from massive budget cuts for one year, although this has been dismissed by critics as a "short term fix".
One of the key issues arising from a consultation exercise was the impact the proposed changes would have had on the primary sector.
In response, Mr O'Dowd targeted the majority of additional finance available next year to primary and nursery schools.
In addition, he also moved to increase the per-pupil weighting in the primary sector.
In previous years, the average funding for a post-primary pupil was about £1,000 more than the primary pupil average.
UTU president Stephen McCord said while the gap was to be narrowed, it was still "unacceptable".
"Whilst the pupil weighting in the primary sector has increased slightly, the disparity between per pupil funding there compared to the secondary sector is still too great," he said.
"Are we saying that primary school children are 'worth' less than their secondary counterparts?
"Because all schools now follow a common curriculum and subjects like science, computer studies and technology are no longer the preserve of the secondary sector, a change in the funding mechanisms could have a significant impact."
This funding difference, he said, manifested itself in the fact that secondary schools could have a better ratio of pupils to teacher and provide greater clerical and technical support.
"Primary schools need to be treated exactly the same as their secondary counterparts," Mr McCord said.
"It is known that children develop most quickly in their formative years. Therefore, it is crucial that they gain a firm foundation in literacy, numeracy and academic skills."