McGuinness highlights benefits of north-south co-operation

Stormont Education Minister Martin McGuinness has highlighted the success of North-South co-operation in his address to the conference of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland in Cork.

Addressing the annual event on Thursday April 4 Mr McGuinness said sharing ideas and good practices between those involved in education and youth sectors on both sides of the border will benefit all the young people on the island of Ireland.

“The North South Ministerial Council has built on a strong foundation of co-operation between my Department and the Department of Education and Science on a wide range of issues,” Mr McGuinness said. “Common approaches and common answers to shared problems are being developed through the Council."

He continued: “We are developing proposals to encourage pupil attendance at school; to improve literacy and numeracy skills and to establish a register of child protection so that people who may present a risk to the safety and well-being of our children are prevented from working with children and young people.

“In relation to special educational needs, the initial focus has been on autism and dyslexia. The two Departments are funding the development of videos and CD ROMs for parents and teachers of pupils with these two conditions, and we hope these will be available in the autumn. We are also examining ways in which to co-operate more fully on the delivery of services to children and young people with these conditions.

Mr McGuinness concluded: “This is just a snapshot of the progress we are making though the auspices of the North South Ministerial Council, and I can assure all teachers that we are pursuing these with vigour together.”

(AMcE)