Providing Pathways 2017-2020, is the first ever regional area plan for education in Northern Ireland.
It replaces the work that was being undertaken by the former area boards, which merged to form the Education Authority last year.
The plan aims to ensure that all pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum that meets their needs in sustainable schools. These must be of the right type, of the right size and located in the right place.
The focus of the plan is “on the educational interests of children and young people”.
The nature of the Northern Ireland education system, with its range of school management types, means that in proportion to the number of pupils to be provided school places, there is a higher number of individual schools than would be the case in other jurisdictions.
The report says based on financial projections for individual schools, budget challenges will increase significantly in the next few years. A total of 104 post-primary schools are projected to be in a deficit position at the end of March 2019 equating to 10 per cent of all schools.
Education minister Peter Weir says many schools are struggling, for a wide range of reasons, to deliver the best for their pupils.
He said: “In post-primary schools, there are challenges in providing the range of subjects needed to offer effective pathways to further education, training or employment for our young people.
“There are too many schools with too few pupils to generate sufficient funds to deliver the curriculum to an acceptable level.
“It is a real issue, particularly in schools with very small sixth forms. As a result, limited available resources are being spread too thinly in an attempt to ensure that, in small schools, every pupil has access to the curriculum.”