Although the debate on the Education Estimates this year has not been quite so full as on previous occasions, we have no reason to complain that the different aspects of educational administration have not received attention from one or other of the Deputies who have spoken. It is noticeable that not alone does the administration of the Education Department now come under survey in the Dáil when the Estimates are under consideration, but there seems to be also a tendency to charge the Education Office with the general task of the revival of the Irish language. I would remind those Deputies who asked us in the Department of Education to prepare statements for their information and to let the country know generally what is the position in regard to the language revival, what are the hopes of success, and what is the measure of progress that is being achieved, that our work is confined solely to the work that is being carried out in the schools and, as far as the work of reviving the Irish language through the schools is concerned, we endeavour to give the fullest possible information in the annual report issued by the Department.
As regards the language in the life of the country, it is the general policy of the Government to endeavour to develop and extend the use of the language through the Government Departments and through the machinery of government generally; but I do not think that it can be held to be my province to deal with that aspect of the situation here any more than to deal with the general question of the revival of the language, and the problems arising from it, outside the schools. I should like to say in this connection that, being keenly interested in the revival of the language, I feel that the friends of the language and those who are anxious for its success and for its ultimate revival as the spoken language—or as a spoken language—throughout the length and breadth of this State, are apt to place too much reliance upon, and to expect too much from the work in the schools. While the work in the schools is slowly and surely progressing, we must remember that the natural forces that are at work outside are detrimental to the growth of the language. In my opinion, the difficulties surrounding the revival of the language outside are growing, because of the influences of the film, and of the Press. Every influence practically is naturally working against the language with the result that at present, so far as the spoken tongue is concerned, it is confined to a few small areas along the western sea-coast. I should like to issue, therefore, a word of warning and of friendly advice to the friends of the language and to those in this House who asked that I should endeavour to extend the scope of the work of the Department, and to ask them to agree with me when I say that the work of the State of itself, no matter how thorough or how intensive it may be in the schools, will not be sufficient to bring about such a revival of the language in the near future as we should all like unless it is accompanied by evidence of a strong movement outside which will endeavour to popularise the use of the language and to carry out the necessary propaganda and the necessary organisation and effort amongst the people.
Deputy Dillon again raised the question of the teaching of subjects through Irish. Even in certain cases, apparently, Deputy Dillon objects to the teaching of even one subject through Irish. Last year, I went into this subject at some length, and if I trespass, perhaps, upon the feelings of the Dáil in seeming to re-open a question that, I think, has been settled many years ago and that is the general Government policy, both as regards the present Government and as regards our predecessors, with reference to this matter of Irish in the schools, it is simply to try to clear away some misunderstandings that Deputy Dillon, I think, still has in his mind. Whether these misunderstandings have arisen through the false reports and rumours that have been in circulation in this country for many years past, under which an impression has been sought to be created that unnecessary pressure is being exerted and that something quite unnecessary and quite wrong is being done in connection with this campaign for Irish in the schools—whether Deputy Dillon's misunderstandings have arisen from reading certain organs of the press or whether they arise from his own personal experience, I do not know; but last year I asked the Deputy to try to let us have definite information, definite evidence, to support the contentions that he made that the Irish programme, as I understood, was definitely doing harm to education in the schools, that the quality of the Irish was not up to the standard that we had a right to expect and that in fact the standard of education generally was suffering as a result of our efforts in the schools. I asked him to produce definite evidence in support of these statements but I received no substantiation from him. This year he has returned to the subject and in order to make the matter quite clear to the Deputy and to others who may not be conversant with the origin of the present school programme, I think it would be no harm to run over the matter again.
Prior to 1922, under what was known as the old Dáil, a National Programme Conference was called together composed of representatives of the Department of Education in the old Dáil, the General Council of County Councils, the National Labour Executive, the Gaelic League, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation and the Association of Secondary Teachers. This Conference had the assistance of expert advice, including that of the Reverend Dr. Corcoran, Professor of Education in University College, Dublin. The Conference prepared a new programme which included a recommendation that each pupil should receive instruction in Irish for at least one hour a day as an ordinary subject and subject to the teachers being qualified in Irish.
The programme also contained the following provisions: that the work in the infant standards is to be entirely in Irish; that instruction in singing is to be given through the medium of Irish; that songs are to be in the Irish language; and, in the programme for history and geography, that instruction in the history and geography of Ireland is to be given through the medium of Irish. This programme was accepted by the then Minister for Education, Mr. J.J. O'Kelly, and on the setting up of the Provisional Government the programme was issued for use in National Schools under the authority of Fionán O Loingsigh, the then Minister for Education.
In order to enable the teachers gradually to put this programme into operation Irish courses were set up all over the country for the teachers and these continued for seven years. In order, however, that the position of the programme generally and the teaching in and through the medium of Irish in accordance therewith be fully considered, the second Programme Conference was called together in 1925, to consider the suitability of the national programme of primary instruction in operation in National Schools, to report to the Minister for Education thereon, and to make recommendations to him as regards any alterations which might seem desirable. The Programme Conference reported in March, 1926 and the programme recommended by them was adopted by the Minister and put into operation as from 1st July, 1926.
This Programme Conference, representative of managers, teachers, county councillors, the Gaelic League, Deputies, Senators and educational representatives of various kinds, including representatives of the Department, recommended a revised programme which was then adopted by the Minister and is at present in use. In the memorandum in connection with the introduction of the programme the Conference made the following remarks:—"One of the leading characteristics of that programme is its insistence on the principle of teaching the infant classes through the medium of Irish. The members of our conference agreed on the supreme importance of giving effect, as far as possible, to this principle and in confirmation of their belief they received authoritative evidence. It was argued with much weight that the ‘direct' method of teaching Irish, continued during the length of an ordinary school day for a few years between the ages of four and eight years, would be quite sufficient, given trained and fluent teachers, to impart to children a vernacular power over the language, while, in the case of older children, it was shown that such a result would be more difficult of attainment. The members of the Conference were, therefore, at one in holding that the true and only method of establishing Irish as the vernacular is the effective teaching of it to the infants."
With regard to the programme itself, it provided that the work in the infant classes between the hours of 10.30 and 2 is to be entirely in Irish, where the teachers are sufficiently qualified. All teachers are regarded as sufficiently qualified who hold bi-lingual or higher certificates, but the possession of such certificates is not regarded as an essential qualification. It is expected the use of Irish for infant teaching will be gradually extended until the stage is reached when in all schools the work of the infant classes will be done entirely in Irish. Speaking generally, therefore, the intention when the present programme was put into operation in 1926 was that a good groundwork of Irish should be given to the infants where this was possible, where the teachers were sufficiently qualified to do it, and that, gradually, the use of Irish should be extended in the schools until it was gradually extended to other standards.
In the statements that have been made in which fault was found with the teaching of Irish in the schools it has not been made clear whether it is the programme that is said to be at fault or the teachers themselves. As regards the teachers, I would like to say that, generally speaking, the Department of Education are satisfied with the efforts the teachers have made to equip themselves fully for the task of teaching other subjects through the medium of Irish. We have at the present time some 14,000 teachers of all kinds employed in national schools. Of this number, over 6,000 have either the bi-lingual certificate or a higher certificate so that it may be said of that number that they are competent to give instruction through the medium of Irish. With regard to the other 8,000 teachers, about 5,000 of them have the ordinary certificate for teaching Irish and a considerable number of that 5,000, if not the whole of them, have a fluent knowledge of the Irish language, so that as regards that 5,000 we can say that they have certain qualifications in regard to the teaching of Irish and the speaking of it. That means that out of the 14,000 teachers we have 6,000 who have the bi-lingual or higher certificate, while we have a further 5,000 who have a fairly good knowledge of Irish. At least three-fourths of the teachers can be regarded as having reasonable qualifications in Irish.
It has been suggested that some pressure is being exercised by the Department, that we are driving the teachers and the schools into doing more than they really can accomplish. There is no foundation whatever for that suggestion. So far as I am aware, no penal action has ever been taken with regard to teachers. A definite provision was made whereby teachers beyond a certain age were left free from the obligation of making themselves efficient to teach through the medium of Irish. As regards the remainder of the teachers, the figures I have read show that the vast bulk of them are taking steps to acquire the certificates that the Department considers necessary. It cannot be suggested that so far as the teaching body is concerned it is not doing reasonable and fairly satisfactory work to carry out the programme.
In the actual programme itself, which I will ask Deputy Dillon or any other Deputy who is interested to read, stress is definitely laid on the fact that while it is our ultimate object to teach all subjects through the medium of Irish, and while we think a definite beginning, a serious and intensive beginning, should be made with regard to children between the ages of four and eight years, the Programme Conference laid it down quite definitely, as practical advice to the teachers, that they should go slowly, and that the teachers who are not capable of doing the work through Irish should simply continue to do it in English. Even so recently as two years ago the Department of Education issued a further circular to managers and teachers on the question of the teaching through the medium of Irish in which it was stated:—
"The intention of the programme is that all schools should do their part in reviving the language as a spoken tongue by giving teachers such a mastery of Irish as will go a long way towards securing that revival. The use of Irish as the medium of instruction will do more than increase the pupils' oral grasp of the language. It will convince them that the Irish language is a living speech capable of adjusting itself to the needs of modern life."
At the same time in that circular the Department issued a definite warning in the following words:—
"The schools would, however, be jeopardised by premature attempts to use Irish in unsuitable conditions, and the programme therefore requires a sufficient oral knowledge from both teacher and pupils before the attempt is made."
I think that disposes of the idea that the Department has taken unusual or unnecessary steps to force the position in regard to Irish. But we feel committed to the task of reviving Irish in the schools, and of making it ultimately the spoken language there. Consistent with that the Department have used every possible discretion and have been, I think, very reasonable in view of the enormous obstacles and propaganda that have been made and are still being made against the revival of Irish. The surprising thing to me is that so much progress has been made in all the circumstances. I think all these concerned in the educational administration have reason to congratulate themselves on having progressed so far. I trust, therefore, that if statements have been made by persons who, one must assume, speak with a certain amount of responsibility, that the language that has been taught as Irish in the schools cannot be understood by the old people, that the old people laugh at the children who speak it, and further, that Irish is being taught in the schools without reference to the capacity of the children to understand it or to the capacity of the teacher to teach, that such unreasonable statements will not be made in future.
