emPowering Schools builds upon the significant achievements made in ICT in our schools over the past six years; all concerned deserve credit for their respective contributions. It is right for a new strategy to aim to ensure that elearning will be ‘fully integrated into, and seen to be integrated into’ the overall change programme which the education sector is facing – of which the outworkings of the post-primary review, the new curriculum, inclusion and investment in the school estate are all major aspects. The comprehensive targets and milestones in this strategy are a forward-looking and ambitious response to the needs of Northern Ireland’s learners in the 21st Century. In publishing this strategy for the consideration of schools and others, I congratulate ETSMG for the thorough and consultative approach taken to its development.

Resourcing and achieving the milestones it proposes will require careful prioritisation, action planning and management over the next five years. Therefore, following consultation on this strategic framework, I will wish to see costed implementation action plans which will define the action projects necessary, ensuring the integration of ICT, setting out realistic and manageable timescales and including requirements for regular progress reporting. I will then consider these in the light of the resources available to the Department of Education.

eLearning has a central role to play in progress with, for example, teaching and learning, the new curriculum, the entitlement framework, assessment, pupil profiles, school leadership and collaborative learning for teachers and pupils alike. I strongly endorse the emphasis placed in empowering Schools on movement to a more unified strategy for elearning, where collaboration across all sectors is strengthened.

The aspirations in emPowering Schools can only be achieved through effective partnerships, both within the education service, and between those in the public and private sectors. Government is making significant investment in ICT in schools and we can be proud of the fact that Northern Ireland has acquired an international reputation for its progress so far. I recommend serious consideration of this strategy to all thus ensuring that the returns on our investment benefit both economic regeneration and educational improvement alike.

RT HON JANE KENNEDY MP
Minister with responsibility for Education

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