Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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519. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department will undertake an impact assessment on the effects of prolonged school closures in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24590/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department recognises that the move to online learning for some students with complex educational needs and for those most at risk of educational disadvantage has been particularly challenging. For that reason, my Department put a series of measures in place to assist schools in mitigating the impact of the school closures. During the period of school closure, schools were required to implement a plan of action to enable continuity of learning for all pupils. This involved teachers, including special education teachers, providing remote teaching and learning to all pupils in their class or on their caseload.

These measures also included enhanced ICT grants, updated guidance for teaching and learning in a remote context and an expanded supplementary programme of learning to take place in students’ homes or in schools over the summer of 2020. Guidance was also provided to teachers to ensure that when schools reopened one of the priorities is to provide rich and progressive teaching and learning experiences for all pupils and, in so doing, to ensure that those learners most impacted by the school closure period are enabled to reconnect with and progress in their learning. Teachers were encouraged to focus on enabling pupils to learn, on developing their learning readiness, and on promoting pupil confidence in and motivation for learning in this context.

With schools now fully reopen, my Department will continue to monitor and assess the impact of the school closures on pupils/students. The Department of Education is planning for an enhanced Summer Programme of learning for students at most risk of educational disadvantage or those with complex special educational needs. The aim of the 2021 Summer Programme is to mitigate, to the extent possible, the effects of prolonged school closures in 2021. My Department’s Inspectorate will engage with a sample of the schools providing the programme to evaluate the extent to which schools have been successful in meeting the aims of the programme.

My Department’s Inspectorate in undertaking online and face-to face advisory and inspection work in schools in the school year 2020-21, is regularly assessing the impact of prolonged schools closures on children’s learning and overall development within the education system. Ongoing professional conversations with teachers around their evaluation and support activities allow inspectors to report on any issues of concern.