ABSTRACT
The Northern Ireland education system differs from that of the rest of the United Kingdom in important respects. The Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI) has overall responsibility for education. Executive authority for educational administration is shared between the DENI, five Education and Library Boards (ELBs) and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS). The DENI is currently responsible for the overall education budget and for the capital grant allocations to all schools. In addition, the DENI is responsible for the recurrent budgets, under separate formulas, of voluntary grammar schools and grant-maintained integrated (GMI) schools. The ELBs, which receive a block grant from the DENI, fund all other schools with each ELB having a separate formula. The ELBs provide professional support to all schools. The CCMS is responsible for the employment of teachers in Catholic maintained schools and advises the DENI on other matters relating to these schools.
