To ask the Minister of Education (i) what steps his Department is taking to ensure that school staff receive training on male domestic violence against women; and (ii) what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making such training mandatory.

I can advise that my Department provides funding of £60,000 per annum for the ‘Social Guardians’ and ‘Training for Trainers’ elements of the Helping Hands Programme, developed by Women’s Aid Federation NI. The aim of this programme is to increase teachers’ confidence, competence and capability to teach about sensitive topics, in this case domestic abuse, and respond appropriately to issues and concerns raised by pupils.

This training is currently voluntary and is well supported by schools and at this stage there are no plans to make it mandatory.