Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Education to detail any steps his Department is taking to ensure that media and digital literacy education is accessible to children with additional needs.
Minister of Education: Supporting children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) is a priority for my Department and the Executive. The SEN Reform Agenda and associated five-year Delivery Plan set out a programme to transform education services for children and young people with SEN and ensure that they receive education tailored to their individual needs.
The Education Authority has advised that EdIS C2k provides all grant-aided schools, including special schools and EOTAS settings, with access to digital learning platforms, online resources and accessibility tools such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, immersive reading and captioning. These features support pupils to engage with digital content and develop their digital skills.
In addition, the proposed Northern Ireland Curriculum Framework 2028 has been designed to promote excellence, equity and inclusion for all learners. This includes the development of a bespoke curriculum framework for special schools and curriculum adaptation guidance for mainstream settings, helping to ensure that children and young people with additional needs can access digital learning and engage effectively with digital and online content.
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