Ministry of Education

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Ministry of Education
Brand-education.png
Formed 1880
Central Office Education House
Kingsbury, CENT
Annual budget £150 million
Senior administration
Minister of State Amanda Sutton
Permanent Secretary John Caspar
Executive agencies
Board of Studies
New Ingerland Qualifications Authority
Schools Inspectorate

The Ministry of Education is the government ministry responsible for the provision of education and training in New Ingerland. The current minister is Amanda Sutton.

Responsibilities

As a senior cabinet portfolio, the Ministry oversees the ministerial directorates and it's allied executive agencies. The Ministry's role is to raise the overall level of educational achievement and reduce disparity. Since the 1960s, the ministry has not been the provider of education in New Ingerland. That role is met by individual elected Boards of Trustees for every school in the country, in a manner similar to management of the New Ingerland health system. The ministry has numerous functions - advising government, providing information to the sector, providing learning resources, administering sector regulation and funding, and providing specialist services. The ministry works with other education agencies including the Board of Studies, the New Ingerland Qualifications Authority and the Schools Inspectorate.

Although the Ministry's role is raise the level of educational achievement, it is also the mechanism through which the Government of the day implements its education policy. When government changes aspects of its policy on education, the Ministry is responsible for implementing those changes. Any changes in education policy ideally require a consensus between government, teachers, parents, and the boards of trustees. Opposition from some or all of these groups make any policy change difficult to implement, and most governments have attempted to avoid these.

In order for the Ministry to perform its role effectively, it is dependent on taxpayer funding provided by Government. In the 2012/3 financial year, the Government provided about £150 million to fund all aspects of education in New Ingerland.

Ministers

The Ministry of Education is headed by the Minister of State for Education, who is supported by an Assistant Minister and a Parliamentary Secretary, all of whom are supported a large body of civil servants assigned to them to manage the minister's office and ministry.

Office Name Term
Minister of State for Education The Rt Hon. Amanda Sutton MHA 2012-present
Assistant Minister for Education
Deputy Minister for Vocational and Further Education
Senator Sarah Hughes 2012-present
Deputy Minister for School Boards Peta Hunt MHA 2012-present
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State for Education Matthew Taylor MHA 2012-present

Directorates and agencies

Departments

The ministry has six principal directorates:

Directorate of Corporate Affairs

Directorate of Early and Specialist Learning

Directorate of Education Improvement and Support

Directorate of Education System Performance

Directorate of Evidence, Data, and Knowledge

Directorate of Graduate, Vocational, and Adult Training

Executive agencies

There are also a number of autonomous agencies under the control of the ministry:

Board of Studies

New Ingerland Qualifications Authority

Schools Information Technology Solutions Agency

The Schools Information Technology Solutions Agency (SITSA) is the information technology support service for all state schools across New Ingerland. Established in 2004 to replace the existing School Board IT support structure, the agency is based in Kingsbury and has an annual budget of £1.1 million. SITSA is charged with providing first, second, and third level support for all aspects of IT and communications; managing the raising and resolution of incidents and problems according industry best practice. The agency also manages the procurement and disposal for all IT and telephony fleets in schools. The Director of SITSA is John Hazelton, a notable New Ingerland IT manager with over 30 years of experience in both public and private sector organisations.

Schools Inspectorate

References and notes

Other links