AQW 28392/22-27

Ms Kate Nicholl
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 09/06/2025
Answered On Date: 13/06/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail how he is seeking to develop AI literacy skills amongst school pupils, in light of the TechFirst programme recently launched by the UK Government.

Answer:

On 2 June 2025, I announced a new major research study to evaluate how AI tools can support literacy among disadvantaged pupils and those with Special Educational Needs. This research project is one of seven cross-cutting initiatives recently announced under the RAISE Programme to be delivered in the 2025/26 academic year.

Furthermore, the findings of the independent Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum have recently been published. The report identifies significant weaknesses in the current curriculum, which had not been formally reviewed in over 17 years. It recommends that my Department develops a new curriculum framework for Northern Ireland which has greater specificity about the important knowledge, concepts and skills that children should learn at each stage of their education. Whilst not exclusive to AI literacy, the report recommends that ‘Digital Technology’ should be introduced as a strand within the curriculum with its own sequenced statutory content, based within ‘Science and Technology’ from key stage 1 to key stage 3, and as a sub-strand within ‘Employability’ at key stage 4. It also proposes that the use of digital technology should still be embedded across the curriculum to support the goal of digital capability. I will respond formally to the report in the coming weeks.