Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 April 2004
165 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Education and Science if assistance will be given for the accreditation of a new language school (details supplied) in Dublin 4 in view of the fact that the project is supported by Enterprise Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12296/04]
View answerThe Advisory Council for English Language Schools, ACELS, is the regulatory body for English language schools and operates under the aegis of my Department. Its objectives are to: control standards in accreditation of EFL schools and courses; control standards in teacher training, both initial and in-career for EFL teachers in Ireland, and maintain a register of such qualified teachers; ensure the establishment of appropriate tests for EFL students and control standards in the certification of their performance; and promote an Irish cultural dimension in EFL courses, particularly in the textbooks used in its schools' network.
To obtain recognition the organisation can submit an application to ACELS, which will assess the school under the schedule of required standards and the regulations governing the recognition of organisations for the teaching of English as a foreign language. The recognition of organisations is granted on an annual basis by my Department on the recommendation of ACELS.
An application form can be obtained from the Advisory Council for English Language Schools, 44 Leeson Place, Dublin 2. No financial assistance is provided to individual language schools by my Department.
