Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us how important is the digital world and forum. Not unlike my previous question, we have learned that it will be most useful to students in every guise in education. It is clear that digital online learning has played a crucial role in school and college life over the past year and it must be acknowledged that the reliance on online learning has, at times, placed a significant burden on teachers, students and many parents, who bore the cost of devices and connections. Lessons must be learned from the experience of the past 16 months in terms of good practice, as well as to know how better to meet identified needs.

What measures are being put in place to enable stakeholder consultation in the new digital strategy for schools to ensure the needs and experience of those most affected, both adults and students, are heard, including those most at risk of educational disadvantage?

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