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Education Authority seeks first permanent chief executive

Education Authority interim chief executive Gavin Boyd
Education Authority interim chief executive Gavin Boyd Education Authority interim chief executive Gavin Boyd

The north's single education board is seeking its first permanent chief executive to lead a "programme of transformation".

The Education Authority (EA), which last year replaced the five area boards, was accepted as an alternative to the Education and Skills Authority (ESA) after rival parties failed to agree its establishment.

While it was hoped this single board would cut bureaucracy and save money, it has been admitted that the actual cash savings will only amount to £3 million over 10 years.

It has a budget of approximately £1.5billion and is the largest employer in the north, with more than 37,000 people, although most of these are teachers in the state-controlled sector.

Gavin Boyd, the former head of the CCEA exams board, has been in charge as interim chief executive.

When the EA launched in April last year, Mr Boyd admitted it would take years before the old board structures merge completely.

EA chairwoman Sharon O'Connor said the work of the authority impacted on the lives of tens of thousands of children and their families every day.

"Since the creation of EA in April 2015, we have been focused on our transition from five education and library boards to a regional organisation that delivers excellent services for all right across Northern Ireland," Ms O'Connor said.

"The scale of this process should not be underestimated. I have seen at first hand the work involved in ensuring that education services continue to be delivered, uninterrupted during the transition period."

The EA chief executive role, she added, was "perhaps one of the biggest educational leadership roles across the UK and Ireland".

"We are entering a new phase of the change programme which will see the Education Authority transformed into a truly regional organisation that delivers excellent services for the benefit of all young people across Northern Ireland for generations to come," she said.