SCHOOL leaders in north and west Belfast say there is a "sense of deep concern and anger" amid fears of funding cuts for educational support programmes.
A group of 51 schools have joined forces to raise concerns that a loss of funding will impact the "poorest and most vulnerable sections of our society".
The school principals say in the absence of an Executive and Assembly, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) "must urgently intervene to ensure that the price of the continuing political boycott of our institutions is not paid by children".
They will hand in a letter of concern to the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris on Friday calling for an "urgent need for clarification" around funding for educational support services.
Among the programmes in jeopardy are the West Belfast Partnership Board’s (WBPB) education programme, Sharing the Learning, Full Service Community Network’s (FSCN) school supports and counselling programme and youth services provided by the Education Authority.
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There are fears about a reduction or ending of funded programmes such as Happy Healthy Minds, Engage Funding and Extended Schools Funding, and the possible end of ‘holiday hunger’ payments for pupils entitled to free school meals.
In their letter, the schools highlight the importance of the WBPB programme, which "makes an incalculable difference to the lives and educational prospects of 14,000-plus children from across all of the schools".
"The consistent levels of support, engagement and opportunities afforded to children, parents and school staff communities as a result of this programme has played an integral part in helping improve the educational outcomes for the children of what continues to be widely recognised as one of the main areas of disadvantage in Northern Ireland," they said.
The principals also say funding cuts could affect the 'Newcomer Support Programme' provided by FSCN, which will "significantly impact those families with English as an additional language", including refugee families from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan and Ukraine.
They also highlight fears around the loss of funding for Easter school revision classes with more than 200 pupils expected to attend next month set to "lose out on this invaluable support unless a funding decision is made urgently".
"The impact of the Easter school has been tremendous over recent years, and the current funding situation will have a hugely detrimental impact on the achievements and future life chances of the current GCSE cohort who stand to lose out," they said.
They add that the funding cuts will have "a devastating impact upon the most vulnerable children and local communities in our society".
"The schools insist that, in the absence of an Executive and Assembly, the NIO must urgently intervene to ensure that the price of the continuing political boycott of our institutions is not paid by children, including those from the poorest and most vulnerable sections of our society," they said.
