Coronavirus: NI Executive creates £12m substitute teacher fund

The NI Executive has created a £12m fund to assist substitute teachers during the Covid-19 crisis.

Finance Minister Conor Murphy says £8m has come from the Department of Education and there will be £4m from the Department of Finance.

The announcement was made by the minister in the assembly on Tuesday.

When schools closed in March, about 3,800 teachers who worked on a regular short-term or daily basis were left without any income.

Mr Murphy also said that the executive had requested from the Treasury that substitute teachers could be furloughed, but it was rejected.

Mr Murphy said he had lobbied officials in London with Education Minister Peter Weir.

Initial details about the scheme emerged last week, but Education Minister Peter Weir said his department could not cover the entire cost of it.

Finance Minister Conor Murphy spoke to MLAs in the Assembly on Tuesday

Speaking to MLAs, Mr Murphy said he was "very much aware" of the hardship substitute teachers have been facing.

Mr Weir said that it "is only right that they are not disadvantaged when so many other workers have been able to access the UK-wide furlough scheme".

He said the scheme will ensure that eligible substitute teachers, engaged between 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2020, will have access to an income for the period April to June 2020.

They will receive an additional income through the scheme which will top up their income to at least 80% of that earned in the period January to March 2020.

Teachers' union NASUWT has welcomed the package for substitute teachers, which general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said would provide "much needed relief".

"The hard reality is that schools simply could not function without these teachers," he said.

"The NASUWT will continue to fight for our substitute teacher members between now and the eventual phased reopening of schools beyond the provision for key workers and vulnerable children."

On Tuesday, Mr Murphy also confirmed that he had created a £1.4m hardship fund for students.