Sinn Féin MLA John O’Dowd has said the allocation of £9m in funding will help students and teachers to return safely to further education campuses.
The party’s spokesperson on Higher and Further Education said:
“The investment by the Finance Minister of £9 million into the FE Sector is absolutely essential to getting our teachers and students back into FE Colleges safely.
“This money will go towards safe learning, Covid testing, cleaning and to cover losses as a result of Covid.
“The disruption to teaching, assessments and social activity in our colleges has been detrimental to our hard pressed students, staff and parents.
“It’s essential that we provide students the opportunity to have the learning experience they deserve and this added money will go some way towards doing that.”