Some of the north's largest primary and grammar schools are to benefit from a £35m fund to provide much-needed upgrades to their buildings.
Strandtown Primary and Methodist College in Belfast, along with St Louis Grammar School in Ballymena, are to receive the maximum £4m available through the School Enhancement Programme (SEP).
A total of 12 schools are to receive a share in the funding package.
They include £3.8m for Erne Integrated College in Enniskillen, £3.7m for St Patrick's Academy in Lisburn, and £3.1m for Integrated College, Dungannon.
Sullivan Upper School, Holywood also receives £2.9m, Broadbridge PS, Eglinton gets £2.7m, Killean PS, Newry receives £1.5m, there is £1.1m for Mount Lourdes Grammar, Enniskillen, John Paul II PS, Belfast gets £0.8m, and Wallace High School, Lisburn receives £3.2m
Education minister John O'Dowd said the funding was made possible by a £46.9m increase in his department's capital budget for 2016/17.
The announcement is a further boost to Strandtown Primary, which accepts pupils from P4 upwards.
Last week Mr O'Dowd approved an increase to admission and enrolment numbers at the school, from 236/943 to 261/1,044 this September.
The SEP is designed to benefit those who need substantial work that falls short of a complete new build.
A reduced capital budget available to the Department of Education in the coming years has meant there can no longer be a presumption of a new build in every case where investment is needed.
Funding of between £500,000 and £4 million is available through the SEP for projects aimed at refurbishing or extending existing provision.
Mr O'Dowd said the £35m fund "is an investment in the future of our young people".
He said the building projects will go ahead in the next financial year.
