SDLP Opposition Education Spokesperson Cara Hunter has welcomed Executive funding for the Strule Shared Education Campus in Omagh.

£150m in funding has been agreed over the next three years. The plan will involve six schools sharing facilities on the campus.

Ms Hunter has also raised serious questions about capital funding for integrated education projects which were thrown into chaos following the publication of the terms of the Stormont restoration deal with the UK Treasury.

East Derry MLA Ms Hunter said:

“News of this funding will be a welcome relief for the six schools set to benefit from the Strule Shared Education Campus. This project has been in the works for over a decade and my SDLP colleague Daniel McCrossan has spent many years fighting to see progress. The price to build the campus has signficantly increased due to a failure by Ministers to advance the project in a timely manner, with the constant delays leaving schools, parents and pupils in limbo. I hope that today’s announcement will provide some much-needed clarity at last.

“This new campus has the potential to change the face of education in the wider Tyrone area, providing these schools with much needed modern facilities to provide our children and young people with the best educational experience possible so they can reach their full potential. I also welcome the shared aspect of the campus, with pupils and students from different backgrounds learning and working together.

“We now need to see similar action from the Executive to restore funding for ten shared and integrated schools across the North who have had their new build projects thrown into chaos as a result of the Executive’s failure to protect ring-fenced funding, removed by the British government as part of the Stormont restoration package. The SDLP Opposition will be pushing Ministers to take similar decisive action so that they too can get the new facilities their school communities deserve.”