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The Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989

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PART XN.I.MISCELLANEOUS AND SUPPLEMENTARY

TrainingN.I.

Art. 147 rep. by 1997 NI 15

Information and training for Boards of Governors, governing bodies, etc.N.I.

148.—(1) Every board shall, in accordance with a programme[F1 prepared] under Article 149, secure the provision to—

(a)every member of the Board of Governors of a controlled school under its management;

(b)every member of the Board of Governors of a maintained school maintained by it;

(c)every member of the Board of Governors of any other voluntary or grant‐maintained integrated school situated in its area;

  • Sub-para. (d) rep. by 1993 NI 12

  • Sub-para. (e) rep. by 1997 NI 15

of such training as is necessary for the effective discharge of his functions under the Education Orders.

(2) A board may provide to any such person as is mentioned in paragraph (1)(a)[F2 to (c)] such information as [F3the Authority] considers appropriate in connection with the discharge of his functions under the Education Orders.

(3) Without prejudice to paragraph (2), [F3the Authority] shall provide to—

(a)every member of the Board of Governors of a controlled school under its management or of a maintained school (other than a Catholic maintained school) maintained by it, a copy of the scheme of management for the school;

Sub-para. (b) rep. by 1997 NI 15

(4) The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools shall provide to every member of the Board of Governors of a Catholic maintained school a copy of the scheme of management for the school.

(5) The Department may secure the provision to members of the Boards of Governors of grant‐aided schoolsF4. . . F5. . . of such training and such information as the Department considers appropriate in connection with the discharge of their functions under the Education Orders.

(6) Documents, information and training provided under this Article shall be provided free of charge.

(7) The Department or [F3the Authority] may pay to persons undergoing training secured by it under this Article travelling and other allowances at such rate or of such amount and subject to such conditions as the Department or board (as the case may be) may determine.

Programmes of training by boardsN.I.

149.—(1) A board shallF6. . . prepareF6. . . a programme of the provision it proposes to secure—

(a)for the further training of teachers, in pursuance of its duty under a scheme under Article 29;

Sub-para. (b) rep. by 1997 NI 15

(c)for the training of persons mentioned in paragraph (1)(a)[F7 to (c)] of Article 148, in pursuance of its duty under that paragraph.

(2) Before preparing a programme under paragraph (1) [F3the Authority] shall consult—

(a)the Board of Governors of—

(i)every controlled school under its management;

(ii)every maintained school maintained by it;

(iii)every other voluntary or grant‐maintained integrated school situated in its area;

  • Sub-para. (b) rep. by 1993 NI 12

  • Sub-para. (c) rep. by 1997 NI 15

(d)the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools;

[F8(e)the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment;]

(f)such other persons as [F3the Authority] considers appropriate.

Paras.(3), (4) rep. by 2003 NI 12

(5) It shall be the duty of [F3the Authority] to give effect to the provisions of any programme which has been[F6 prepared by it] under this Article.

[F6(6) A board may at any time prepare a revised programme or an amendment to an existing programme; and paragraphs (2) and (5) apply in relation to any such revised programme or amendment as they apply in relation to the original programme.]

MiscellaneousN.I.

Procedures for carrying out by certain bodies of their activitiesN.I.

150.—(1) Each board shall, at such intervals and in accordance with such arrangements as may be determined by the Department after consultation with [F3the Authority] , review its procedures for the carrying out of such activities as the Department may direct with a view to ensuring that such activities are carried out as effectively, efficiently and economically as practicable.

(2) The Department may direct that paragraph (1) shall apply to any of the bodies or persons listed in Article 101(3)(b) to (h) of the principal Order as it applies to [F3the Authority] but with the substitution for the reference to consultation with [F3the Authority] of a reference to consultation with the bodies or persons concerned.

Paras.(3), (4) rep. by 1993 NI 12

(5) References in this Article to the carrying out of activities include references to the provision of services.

Review of performance of teachersN.I.

151 .F9—(1) The Department may by regulations make provision requiring employing authorities to secure that the performance of teachers to whom the regulations apply—

(a)in discharging their duties; and

(b)in engaging in other activities connected with the establishments at which they are employed,

is regularly reviewed in accordance with such requirements as may be prescribed.

(2) The regulations may, in particular, make provision—

(a)requiring the Boards of Governors of controlled schools and Catholic maintained schools and the governing bodies of institutions of further education—

(i)to secure that any arrangements made in accordance with the regulations are complied with in relation to their establishments;

(ii)to provide such assistance to the employing authority as that authority may reasonably require in connection with its obligations under the regulations;

(b)with respect to the disclosure to teachers of the results of reviews and the provision of opportunities for them to make representations with respect to those results; and

(c)requiring employing authorities to have regard to the results of reviews in the exercise of such of their functions as may be prescribed.

(3) The regulations may be expressed to apply to any of the following categories of teacher, that is to say—

(a)teachers employed in grant‐aided schools;

(b)teachers employed in institutions of further education;

Sub-para. (c) rep. by 1993 NI 12

(d)peripatetic teachers.

(4) Before making any regulations under paragraph (1), the Department shall consult—

[F10(a)the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland; and]

(b)any other person with whom consultation appears to it to be desirable.

(5) In this Article “employing authority” means—

(a)in relation to teachers employed in controlled schoolsF11. . . , [F3the Authority] F12...;

(b)in relation to teachersF13. . . employed by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, that Council;

(c)in relation to teachers employed in a voluntary school (other than a Catholic maintained school), the managers of that school;

(d)in relation to teachers employed in a grant‐maintained integrated school, the Board of Governors of the school;

(e)in relation to peripatetic teachers, [F3the Authority] F14...;

[F15(f)in relation to teachers employed in an institution of further education, the governing body of that institution.]

Educational projects by DepartmentN.I.

152 .F16  The Department may carry out any project appearing to the Department to be associated with the provision of educational F17. . . services or recreational, social, cultural, physical or youth service activities or services ancillary to education.

F16certain functions transf. by SR 1999/481

[F18Appointment of teachers by [F3the Authority] N.I.

153.(1) Each board shall prepare, and may from time to time revise, a scheme providing for the procedures to be followed in relation to the appointment by [F3the Authority] of—

(a)teachers to posts in controlled schools; and

(b)peripatetic teachers.]

[F19(2) A scheme under paragraph (1) may provide—

(a)for any specified functions of the Authority under the scheme to be exercised by committees of the Authority (“teaching appointments committees”);

(b)for a teaching appointments committee to include persons who are not members of the Authority; and

(c)for a teaching appointments committee to exercise functions on behalf of, and in the name of, the Authority.

(3) Before preparing or revising a scheme under paragraph (1) the Authority shall consult the Board of Governors of every controlled school.

(4) A scheme prepared or revised under paragraph (1) does not come into force unless approved by the Department.

(5) It shall be the duty of the Authority to give effect to a scheme or revised scheme for the time being in force under paragraph (1).]

Miscellaneous amendments to the principal OrderN.I.

Art. 154 rep. by 1993 NI 12

Art. 155 rep. by 1996 NI 1

Compulsory school ageN.I.

156.  For Article 46 of the principal Order there shall be substituted the following Articles—

Compulsory school age

46.(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Article, in the Education Orders the expression “compulsory school age” means any age between four years and sixteen years and accordingly a person shall be of compulsory school age if he has attained the age of four years and has not attained the age of sixteen years.

(2) Where a person attains the age of four years—

(a)on any date occurring in the period beginning on (and including) 1st September in any year and ending on (and including) 1st July in the following year, he shall be deemed not to have attained the lower limit of compulsory school age until 1st August in that following year;

(b)on any date occurring in the period beginning on (and including) 2nd July in any year and ending on (and including) 31st August in the same year, he shall be deemed not to have attained the lower limit of compulsory school age until 1st August in the following year.

(3) Where a person attains the age of sixteen years—

(a)on any date occurring in the period beginning on (and including) 1st September in any year and ending on (and including) 1st July in the following year, he shall be deemed not to have attained the upper limit of compulsory school age until, or as the case may be, deemed to have attained that upper limit on 30th June in that following year or such other date as the Department may, by order subject to affirmative resolution, prescribe;

(b)on any date occurring in the period beginning on (and including) 2nd July in any year and ending on (and including) 31st August in the same year, he shall be deemed not to have attained the upper limit of compulsory school age until 30th June in the following year or such other date as the Department may, by order subject to affirmative resolution, prescribe.

Commencement of secondary education

46A.  Unless the Department otherwise directs in a particular case, a child shall commence secondary education—

(a)where he attains the age of eleven years on a date occurring in the period beginning on (and including) 1st September in any year and ending on (and including) 1st July in the following year, on 1st August in that following year;

(b)where he attains that age on a date occurring in the period beginning on (and including) 2nd July in any year and ending on (and including) 31st August in the same year, on 1st August in the following year..

Art. 157 rep. by 1998 NI 13

Power of Department to give directionsN.I.

158.  For Article 101 of the principal Order there shall be substituted the following Article—

Power of Department to give directions

101.(1) The Department may give directions to any relevant authority as to the exercise by that authority of any power conferred, or the performance of any duty imposed, on that authority by or under any provision of the Education Orders; but the Department shall consult with a relevant authority before giving any directions to the authority under this paragraph.

(2) In particular, but without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), directions given under that paragraph may—

(a)require a specified power—

(i)to be exercised;

(ii)to be exercised in a specified manner;

(iii)not to be exercised;

(iv)not to be exercised in a specified manner;

(b)require a specified duty—

(i)to be performed;

(ii)to be performed in a specified manner;

(iii)not to be performed in a specified manner;

and in this paragraph “specified” means specified in directions.

(3) In this Article “relevant authority” means any of the following, namely—

(a)a board;

(b)the Board of Governors or trustees of a grant‐aided school;

(c)a person approved by the Department under Article 11(8);

(d)the governing body of an institution of further education;

(e)the managers or trustees of a college of education;

(f)the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools;

(g)the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council;

(h)the Northern Ireland Schools Examinations and Assessment Council.

(4) If, on a complaint made to it by any person or body, the Department is satisfied that a relevant authority has acted or is proposing to act unreasonably with respect to the exercise of any power conferred or the performance of any duty imposed by or under any provision of the Education Orders, the Department shall give such directions under paragraph (1) as to the exercise of the power or the performance of the duty as appear to the Department to be expedient to remedy that complaint.

(5) Directions may be given to a relevant authority under paragraph (1) notwithstanding any provision of the Education Orders rendering the exercise of the power or the performance of the duty contingent upon the opinion of that authority.

(6) It shall be the duty of a relevant authority to comply with any directions given to the authority under paragraph (1) and any such directions may be enforced by mandamus.

(7) Where the Department is satisfied that a relevant authority has failed to comply with any directions given to the authority under paragraph (1), the Department may make an order appointing a person or persons to discharge, in the name of the relevant authority, all the functions of the authority or such functions as may be specified in the order and the order may render valid any act, thing or payment which would otherwise be invalid by reason of any default by the authority.

(8) So long as an order under paragraph (7) remains in force the functions of the relevant authority or such functions as are specified in the order shall be performed by the person or persons appointed by the order and shall not be performed by the authority.

(9) The remuneration and expenses of a person or persons appointed by an order made under paragraph (7) shall be determined by the Department and shall together with any other sums expended by the Department in consequence of the order be defrayed as part of the expenses of the relevant authority under the Education Orders.

(10) The Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979F20 shall not apply to any order made under paragraph (7)..

Grants for provision of educational or library services, etc.N.I.

159.  For Article 115 of the principal Order there shall be substituted the following Article—

Grants for educational or library services, etc.

115.(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the Department may, in accordance with regulations made with the approval of the Department of Finance and Personnel, pay grants to persons in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by them—

(a)for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision (or proposed provision) of—

(i)educational or library services; or

(ii)recreational, social, cultural, physical or youth service activities or services ancillary to education;

(b)for the purposes of research relevant to the functions of the Department or of boards under the Education Orders.

(2) Regulations under paragraph (1) may prescribe the rates of grants which may be paid under that paragraph.

(3) The Department shall not pay grants under this Article to—

(a)a board; or

(b)the trustees or managers of—

(i)a voluntary school; or

(ii)a grant‐maintained integrated school.

(4) Paragraph (5) applies where—

(a)the Department has, after the coming into operation of Article 159 of the 1989 Order, paid a grant under this Article to a person in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by him for the provision or alteration of premises; and

(b)those premises cease to be used for approved purposes.

(5) Where this paragraph applies there shall be payable to the Department by the person to whom the grant was paid or his successor in title such sum as the Department considers equitable but not exceeding such proportion of the value of the premises as the proportion that the amount of the grant was of the approved cost of the provision or alteration of the premises together with interest on that sum from the date on which the premises ceased to be used for approved purposes until the date of payment to the Department.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (5) the value of premises shall be taken to be the amount which the premises might be expected to realise if sold in the open market on the date on which the premises ceased to be used for approved purposes and where the Department certifies that it is not possible to reach agreement as to such value, the dispute as to such value may be referred to and determined by the Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland.

(7) For the purposes of paragraph (5) interest shall be at such rate as may from time to time be determined by the Department of Finance and Personnel under paragraph 18(2) of Schedule 6 to the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972F21.

(8) Any sum payable or repayable to the Department under this Article may be recovered as a debt due to the Department..

Filling of certain casual vacancies in boardsN.I.

F22160.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Art. 161 rep. by 2003 NI 12

SupplementaryN.I.

Temporary exclusion of section 5 of Data Protection Act 1984N.I.

162.—(1) Where personal data are transferred under any provision of this Order to a body corporate established under this Order, section 5(1) of the Data Protection Act 1984F23 (prohibition of unregistered holding, etc., of personal data) shall not apply in relation to the holding by that body corporate of the data so transferred or any data of the same description as the data so transferred until the end of the period of six months beginning with the date on which the data are transferred.

(2) Expressions used in paragraph (1) to which a meaning is given for the purposes of that Act of 1984 have the same meaning in that paragraph.

Stamp dutyN.I.

163.  Stamp duty shall not be chargeable in respect of any transfer effected under ArticleF24. . . 75, 83, 84 or 95 or paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 6.

Regulations and ordersN.I.

164.—(1) All regulations under this Order shall be subject to negative resolution.

(2) The Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979F25 shall not apply to any order made by the Department under ArticleF26. . . 71(13), 76(1)(b), 82(1), 84(2), 86(1) or 102(6) or paragraph 1 of Schedule 6.

(3) Except as provided by paragraphs (4) and (5), all other orders made by the Department under this Order shall be subject to negative resolution.

(4) Orders under F27. . . 46(7), 60(8) or 77(13) or paragraph 2(4) or 3(7) of Schedule 8 shall be subject to affirmative resolution.

(5) Paragraph (3) does not apply to an order under Article 1(3).

(6) Regulations and orders under this Order may contain such transitional provision as the Department thinks fit.

Transitional provisionsN.I.

165.  Paras.(1), (2) rep. by 1993 NI 12

(3) Until the coming into operation in relation to a school of a scheme of management prepared under Article 9B of the principal Order, the scheme approved for the school under Article 10(3) or 11(2) of that Order shall continue in operation in relation to the school.

(4) References in the Education Orders to a scheme of management shall include references to a scheme continuing in operation under paragraph (3); but nothing in any provision of those Orders shall be construed as requiring such a scheme to make any provision which it was not required to make before the making of this Order.

Para. (5) rep. by 1993 NI 12

(6) The Department may by order make such other transitional provision (including the adaptation of any provision of the Education Orders) as appears to the Department to be necessary or expedient in connection with the coming into operation of any provision of this Order.

Art. 166—Amendments

Art. 167—Repeals

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