asked the Minister for Education whether any arrangements are in existence whereby children who return from England shortly before Intermediate Certificate or Leaving Certificate age and who have no knowledge of Irish would be enabled to sit for either of these examinations and get a certificate in the other subjects.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Intermediate and Leaving Certificate Examination Candidates.
39.
Pupils who have not followed an approved course may sit for the Leaving Certificate examination in any particular subject or subjects and be awarded marks therein. Such candidates are given a statement of their marks in the subjects concerned.
No pupil may sit for the Intermediate Certificate examination who has not followed an approved course.
In relation to Irish, the only exceptions allowed to these regulations are (1) children of foreigners who are diplomatic or consular representatives and (2) children of aliens permanently resident in Ireland, provided the course of education in Ireland of such children began after they had reached their eleventh birthday.
Does the Minister see any way out of the difficulty? It is a real difficulty. I have come up against it on more than one occasion in relation to people who have returned to this country, whose children are just at examination age and could not possibly have time to learn sufficient Irish. They are excluded from sitting for the Intermediate Certificate. Does the Minister not consider it desirable to find some way around that difficulty?
I would remind the Deputy that this applies only to children who have started in schools here after their 11th birthdays. They are exempt. If they are under that age they must do Irish in the examination because they will have had a reasonable number of years in which to catch up. Secondly, I would remind the Deputy that they are given a statement of the marks they get.
That is not a certificate.
No.
And that does not apply in the case of the Intermediate Certificate.
No.
Why does the Minister discriminate between the Intermediate and the Leaving Certificate? Why do not the same conditions attach to both?
The Leaving Certificate corresponds to some extent to the Matriculation examination and has, therefore, a bearing on entrance to the universities. Under this arrangement a student of the kind the Deputy has in mind may, by producing a statement from the Department showing he obtained passes in certain subjects, have those subjects accepted by the National University as equivalent to passes in Matriculation. That is the reason for the regulation in relation to that certificate.