INTEGRATED education is at risk of losing £450 million in funds from the UK treasury if there is prolonged political instability after the election, it has been warned.
The Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements included plans to invest up to £500m over 10 years on shared and integrated schools.
Under plans £50m would allocated each year.
However, as The Irish News revealed on Monday nearly all the money allocated for the first year is to be kept by the treasury after the DUP-led Department of Education failed to spend it.
Just £3m of the £50m available was drawn down and the remaining £47m cannot be carried into next year.
The Department of Education said six education projects were allocated £43m of Fresh Start funding to move to construction stage - but confirmed only £3m of that would come out of this year's pot.
The remaining £40m will be drawn down when required over the next five years.
A spokeswoman said carry over of unused funding in a given year had not yet been agreed, but negotiations with the NIO and Treasury on flexibility were continuing.
Former Alliance Strangford assembly member Kellie Armstrong, who asked a series of questions of education minister Peter Weir about the lost money, said there was a risk of losing all the money if there is further political instability.
"I have met with the NIO and was assured that any capital projects they have already agreed will go ahead as planned.
"However, any delay in establishing a functioning Executive after the election will put at risk much needed funding to help meet the growing demand for integrated education," she said.
"Surveys regularly show parents want their children educated in integrated schools."
Ulster Unionist education spokeswoman Sandra Overend - who accused Mr Weir of "failing miserably" to spend the money, described the sitatuation as "completely farcical.
"Essentially the department is saying that over the next five years, instead of spending all of the £250m of the Fresh Start money allocated, they are only planning to spend £43m in total - that is a total loss to Northern Ireland of £207m," she said.
"I genuinely cannot believe that this has happened. It is a completely unacceptable way to manage a budget."
Ms Overend said attempts had been made to look at spending the money on shared housing "in the hope that something could be salvaged".
"Of course when we questioned the minister of communities on this issue, he stated that there has been no expenditure to date."
DUP Communities minister Paul Givan confirmed in the assembly that there had been "no expenditure to date" adding his officials were "considering mechanisms to access and administer the funding from the Fresh Start agreement for shared housing projects, and have identified an 18 month lead-in time to develop the necessary mechanisms".
Ms Overend said it was vital to maximise every single penny.
"We are leaking £85,000 a day due to the RHI fiasco and now we are handing money back to the Treasury from shared and integrated housing. It's completely farcical," she added.
