To ask the Minister of Education whether there are any initiatives to promote careers in (i) aviation; and (ii) airport management, to pupils in Northern Ireland.

My officials have advised that they are not aware of any initiatives that promote careers specifically in aviation or airport management to pupils in Northern Ireland.

Information about career pathways and insights into work across different sectors is an important element of careers related learning. In support of this, every post-primary school in Northern Ireland is a member of an Area Learning Community (ALC) with a careers sub-group which provides a mechanism for schools to work together on issues such as engaging with local employers and developing joint careers events for their pupils. Both the ALCs and the Northern Ireland Schools and Colleges Careers Advisors (NISCA) run conferences at which different sectors and employers provide information and advice to careers advisors and teachers to help them better support their learners.

In addition, officials in the department’s 14-19 Strategy Team regularly engage with local businesses and industry groups on careers-related matters and share careers information with schools. They can be contacted via 14-19strategyteam@education-ni.gov.uk.