Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 14 Nov 2001

Vol. 544 No. 1

Written Answers. - Languages Programme.

Austin Deasy

Question:

273 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress he is making in improving the range of continental languages being taught in both primary and secondary schools; if he has satisfied himself with the present situation; and if not, his plans to address this issue. [28309/01]

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods)

French and German have traditionally been the most common foreign languages taught in schools in Ireland. At present 98% of post primary schools offer French and 65% offer German. I recognise, however, that there is a need to encourage pupils to take up other languages and to increase the range of languages available in schools.

Last year I established the post primary languages initiative with a view to diversifying, enhancing and expanding the teaching of languages in second level schools. This is a follow on to the successful modern languages, primary project which has been in operation since 1998 and which is currently operating in a number of primary schools. French is currently being taught at fifth and sixth class levels in 171 primary schools, German in 76, Spanish in 58 and Italian in 19 schools. A national co-ordinator directs the initiative and a team of project leaders is in place to assist and provide support to the schools participating in the project.

An evaluation of the pilot scheme is being conducted by Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann, ITÉ, and I look forward to receiving the evaluation report in the near future.

A major difficulty in relation to the teaching of modern continental languages at primary level has been the availability of appropriately trained teachers. I had asked officials of my Department to discuss this issue with some of the institutes of technology. A group of the institutes of tecnhology has now put in place 11 graduate diploma courses in German, ten graduate diploma courses in French and a number of certificate courses in Spanish and Italian. These courses are designed for qualified primary teachers and I understand that there is a very high level of interest in them.

Under the post primary languages initiative, Italian, Japanese and Spanish were selected as the initial target languages: Spanish as it is one of the three most widely spoken languages in the world; Italian for its accessibility and the cultural and business opportunities which it affords; and Japanese as a gateway to Asian language, culture and business.

To date, approximately 160 schools have responded to the invitation to participate in the initiative and have been given grants by my Department for the purchase of materials and as payment for supplementary teaching hours. Under the direction of a national coordinator, the initiative is also engaged in research on teaching materials, the planning and delivery of inservice training for teachers, including a newly developed course in the use of IT in language training, and the dissemination of information on the many opportunities for language development now available to teachers and pupils. I hope, in the course of the five-year life span of the Initiative, to see a significant increase in the proportion of schools offering more language options to pupils.