The Education Authority (EA) has earmarked a plan to close Balloughry Primary School in Northern Ireland with some Donegal pupils in August 2023. Its plan to close the school said that the students may instead attend primary schools in Derry city, where they would have better educational and extracurricular opportunities. According to the EA, the school has only 44 students and three teachers, which is considerably below the Department of Education’s mandated 105 students for a rural primary school. However, a consultation must be held prior to making such a change, as is the case with the Ballougry Primary School, which is over 150 years old. In addition, it has a shared education relationship with two other Irish schools.

The EA is in charge of determining the future of education in Northern Ireland. This could include expanding a school by adding additional classrooms or deciding on the closure of one deemed unsustainable. Meabh Owens’ daughter is a student at the school, and she herself is a former attendee. A news report says she intends to oppose the plan. “As parents, we want the best for our children. Having an integrated education in 2022 is really important. If they close it, our parents are all faced with the decision of taking a green or an orange education for their kids and that is not what they wanted,” she declares. A future education minister will decide whether the school stays or not. A final judgment is expected in January 2023.