To ask the Minister of Education how he is ensuring that policies to address (i) lockdown learning; and (ii) the emotional impact of the pandemic on children and young people are implemented.

(i) In an effort to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Engage Programme was launched in September 2020 using Covid-19 funding provided by the Department of Finance. The programme continued in 2021/22 and 2022/23 and over £57m in funding was allocated to educational settings across the three years of the programme. The Engage programme aimed to limit any long-term adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown learning by supporting pupils’ learning and engagement through provision of high quality one-to-one, small group or team teaching support in every school/setting in Northern Ireland. Due to budget pressures, the Engage programme came to an end on 31 March 2023.

The Programme provided flexibility and autonomy to allow settings to assess the diverse needs of their individual pupils in light of the pandemic and provide bespoke interventions to best meet those needs in their unique setting environment. One of the key strengths of the programme was that it was shaped by those delivering it on the ground, which allowed for the delivery of a range of approaches, for example, to increase the confidence and motivation of pupils.

(ii) There is no specific DE policy on the emotional impact of the pandemic on children and young people. In relation to the wider policy to support the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people in school, the Department of Education and Department of Health jointly published the Children and Young People’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing in Education Framework in February 2021. The Framework recognised that the pandemic brought an added dimension to the challenges in supporting emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people. Previous DE and DoH Ministers agreed to annual investment of £5m and £1.5m respectively.

The main emphasis of the Framework is to support schools to promote emotional health and wellbeing at a universal level, through a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach, and providing early and enhanced support. There are a number of projects currently in operation under the Framework, both education and health led, which aim to support children and young people’s emotional health and wellbeing including the impact of the pandemic.