I would prefer if the report on languages was dealt with first because the Sub-Committee felt it was more important. We felt it was so important that we called for a special debate in each House on this matter. The Sub-Committee examined a communication sent by the Commission to the Council on 22 June 1978 on the subject of teaching of languages in the Community. The idea is that the Community would help national programmes in this area. The Sub-Committee were aware that this matter will be considered at the next meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Education to be held on 27 November. The first proposal put forward by the Commission dealt with the initial training of teachers to ensure that trainee language teachers would spend a period of study in the country of the language which they intend to teach. The other proposals related to the continuing training of teachers, early foreign language teaching, and the mobility and exchange of students.
The Sub-Committee noted that the Commission laid stress on the development of greater understanding among the peoples of the Community and we endorsed the importance of an ability to communicate through a second Community language. We felt that this was important for Ireland because of our increasing contacts and trade with the Continent since our accession to the Community. We noted that although there had been efforts made here to make up for the apparent neglect of the past much remained to be done. We pointed out that the range of choice of languages available to secondary school students left much to be desired and we felt it was patently unsatisfactory that there were still no oral tests for secondary students taking public examinations.
The Sub-Committee believed that a Community involvement in the teaching of languages would be very much in Ireland's interest and we wanted an enthusiastic response to that. We believed it would not be unreasonable in the case of Ireland, because of our disadvantages in this area and the ground we must catch up on, that the Community contribution be made on the basis of a 70 or 75 per cent meeting of the costs rather than 50 per cent from the Community and 50 per cent from ourselves. We believe we have a strong case for special tratment. We noted that the Commission want to ensure that both students and practising teachers would spend a period in the country the language of which they propose to actually teach. We want to go further—strong submissions on this score were made to us by ASTI—and seek a mutual recognition of the qualification of teachers so that our teachers of English could establish themselves as teachers of English in other Member States. In fact, there should be a great potential for them as teachers of English. At present they must go through a system of qualifying on examination in places like France and Germany instead of having the advantage of national teachers of the English language in those countries.
We felt this was a very important area for Ireland. We also felt that the improved mobility of teachers and students was important for cultural reasons and for trade and commerce. For those reasons we inserted a paragraph seeking a debate on this subject in each House. I would be prepared to move this in the Seanad in due course, if that is the view of the Joint Committee.
