To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 17483/17-22, to outline the potentially repercussive effects of mandatory autism training for teachers of autistic pupils on other areas of special educational needs.

Following the NI Assembly motion in February 2020 to explore the introduction of mandatory autism training for all teachers and classroom assistants, the Department has received a number of requests to consider mandatory training in relation to other incidences of Special Educational Needs (SEN).

The Education Authority’s Children and Young People’s Services Training Programme for 2020-21 offers a bespoke range of specialist training for education professionals (as well as parents) from a range of services, including the Autism Advisory and Intervention Service.

As outlined in AQW 17483/17-22, the Department’s Learning Leaders Strategy signals a move away from ‘top-down’ and ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to staff development, with teachers reflecting routinely on their own practice and assuming responsibility for their own professional learning and development, in conjunction with school leaders and based on the needs of pupils. It is then for the school leaders to identify and plan the professional development required for their own schools, providing staff with access to professional learning as their careers progress and specific incidences of SEN are presented in their classrooms.