To ask the Minister of Education to detail the specific measures his Department is implementing to enhance teacher training programmes, as part of the Special Educational Needs Reform Agenda, to ensure educators are equipped to support children with special educational needs.

One of the four pillars of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Reform Agenda is ‘Right People’, which focuses on ensuring we have a highly skilled workforce, equipped and empowered to build supportive learning environments for pupils with SEN.

The SEN Reform five-year Delivery Plan includes a range of specific measures in this regard. Actions relating to teacher training include defining and implementing:

SEN/Inclusion subject content requirements for Initial Teacher Education courses (both PGCE and B.Ed);

Early Professional Development training for Newly Qualified Teachers offer to facilitate regular training in relation to SEN, disabilities and broader inclusive practice;

a Professional Learning Programme for teaching staff;

a Leadership Programme for SEN Learning Support Co-ordinators/ SENCos;

a Resource Portal for Teachers;

a universal SEN Training Programme targeted at all front-line staff

The Education Authority (EA) will also offer a professional development programme and supporting resources for teachers through the implementation of the child-centred Graduated Response Framework.

As set out in the SEN Reform Delivery Plan, the EA, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (who determine content of Initial Teacher Education programmes) and the Middletown Centre for Autism will be key delivery partners in taking this work forward.

The design and trial of a teacher and classroom assistant professional learning programme is one of the projects funded under NICS Transformation Board funding which the Finance Minister confirmed on 4 March 2025.