Vol. 457 No. 8
20 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education if she will consider a more fundamental and radical review of the leaving certificate Irish syllabus in view of the high failure rates in this year's leaving certificate Irish examinations. [16437/95]
The leaving certificate Irish syllabus has recently undergone a fundamental and radical review. The leaving certificate ordinary level and higher level syllabuses have been revised and the new syllabuses will be examined for the first time in June, 1997. A new leaving certificate foundation level Irish syllabus was introduced in September 1994 and will be examined for the first time in June 1996. There is no prescribed literature on this new foundation level syllabus and the emphasis is entirely on basic linguistic skills and communicative needs. I am confident these curricular changes will lead to an overall decrease in the failure rate and to an improvement in standards in Irish in second level schools.
I was motivated to ask this question because recently I received a deputation and correspondence from 43 teachers of Irish in Cork who expressed frustration and anger at the quality of a recent in-service course they attended regarding the new Irish syllabus to be introduced next September. Will the Minister seriously consider the points they have made, their belief that the new syllabus will be more difficult for Irish students, not easier, that there is too much emphasis still on literature, poems and stair le litríochta with a corresponding lack of time available within the classroom for concentration on oral competence and language competence generally? Does the Minister accept there is widespread concern among teachers of Irish about the new syllabus introduced? They do not consider it radical enough to address the real problems affecting the teaching of Irish in our schools and they believe the subject will become less attractive as a result of the new syllabus.
I am quite taken aback at the Deputy's question. I was not asked to comment on the in-service course. If the Deputy wants me to comment on the in-service course I will certainly do so. The Deputy's question challenged me to introduce a fundamental change in the syllabus. I am sure the teachers who visited the Deputy are aware there has just been such a fundamental and radical change. That radical change has come through the Irish course committee of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment which is quite well weighted towards the teachers of Irish throughout the system. We have the Cumann Múinteoirí na Ghaeilge as Luimneach, two representatives from the ASTI and two from the TUI. We have managerial people, the National Council for Education Awards, the heads of the universities and the Department of Education education officers. The course committee on Irish comprises people who participate and teach in the classrooms. They have brought forward a radical new syllabus. Rather than criticising, let us see it introduced. Questions on the in-service course can be addressed to me at a future date.
As a former teacher of Irish at second level, I need no lectures on the introduction of syllabuses. The fact remains that the old honours paper had five questions and the new syllabus has seven. It is the teachers who have said this to me — I am not making it up. I ask the question in the knowledge that a new syllabus is to be introduced. However, the syllabus is not radical enough; it does not represent the degree of change required to improve participation rates and result in higher assessments for the students and, above all, give students a desire to learn Irish and to make it more attractive to them. As currently structured it is not radical enough and will not change the unfortunate trend of recent leaving certificate examinations in Ireland.
The unfortunate trends referred to by the Deputy arose from an old syllabus that existed for a long time. We have looked critically at the teaching of Irish. That started with the Irish Course Committee of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. It recommended a radical and fundamental review of Irish. That has now taken place and the results and successes cannot yet be judged because it will not be examined for the first time until 1997.
I have seen sample papers.
Perhaps when the Deputy is ready to return to being a teacher of Irish, it will be long after 1997. At that stage we will certainly have examined it in detail and monitored its success. I have confidence that the course recommended by the course committee, made up mainly of teachers, will respond to the needs of students regarding a subject about which we all share a common concern.
