School cycling proficiency scheme funding axed

Paying for children to be taught cycling proficiency at school is no longer affordable, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has said.

The department told BBC News NI that "budget constraints" meant it could not keep paying teachers or instructors to deliver the lessons.

Schools will have to pay teachers themselves if they want to continue the scheme.

The department, however, will continue to provide training.

The cycling proficiency scheme has been running in schools in Northern Ireland for more than 50 years, training more than half a million pupils during that time.

It teaches children who can already ride a bike how to cycle safely, including what to wear, bicycle maintenance and the rules of the road.

The scheme involves 12 weeks of lessons and is aimed at children in the senior years of primary school.

Teachers who want to deliver cycling safety lessons have to register with the department and receive training.

In 2021/22, more than 300 primary schools and about 5,600 primary pupils took part in cycling proficiency classes.

The department spent about £32,000 on payments to teachers on 2021/22 and has spent about £42,000 so far in the 2022/23 school year.

But schools who were planning to run cycling proficiency classes between Easter and the end of June have been told that the department can no longer afford to pay teachers to deliver the scheme.

Kevin Donaghy, principal of St Ronan's Primary School in Newry, said uptake for the scheme had always been high at his school.

"We would have about 30 to 40 children participating in it - each trainer can only take 12 children at a time, so we would have run it over three different days during the week for our Primary Sevens.

"The kids loved it, they actually got a qualification at the end of it to say they were safe to ride on the road.

"It's a huge thing in the summer term for Primary Seven and at the minute we don't know whether or not it's actually going to go ahead."

He added: "We can't keep asking teachers to do more and more and more and get paid less and less and less."

An email to school heads from the department, seen by BBC News NI, said that "there will be no budget available for the payment of instructors for delivering the cycling proficiency scheme".

"Whilst this will come as very disappointing news, I wanted to give you the updated position at an early stage to help decision making within your school in terms of whether to offer the scheme to your pupils this year," it continued.

The department said: "The cycling proficiency scheme is delivered by teaching staff in schools, who receive payment from the department for doing so.

"Due to budget constraints, we are not currently in a position to fund this payment to teachers.

"We will still provide training for teachers, should that be needed, and any practical resources needed to deliver the scheme, should schools want to continue to provide the scheme."

Schools have until Friday 21 April to inform the department if they intend to continue to run cycling proficiency classes before the end of the 2022/23 school year.