The Government has put in place a number of measures at all levels to help non-English speaking students to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them.
These include the provision of language support teachers and non-pay resources for primary and post-primary schools to cater for the needs of pupils for whom English is not the mother tongue; the provision of funding to Integrate Ireland Language and Training, IILT, on a pilot basis, to co-ordinate the provision of English language support for adult refugees admitted to Ireland; to develop English language proficiency benchmarks for the adult education sector and for the school sector; to design and deliver English language courses appropriate to the needs of adult refugees; the publication of the White Paper on Adult Education, Learning for Life, which recommends that the principles of equality and interculturalism should underpin all educational provision; the issuing of an information booklet on asylum seekers by the Department to schools and the publication of guidelines for schools on intercultural education; and the development of modules in interculturalism for use across the further education sector. The modules have now been approved at foundation level and levels 1 and 2 by the Further Education and Training Awards Council.
While language support teachers are only provided in primary and post-primary schools, within adult literacy services funds may be expended to cater for the literacy and language needs of adults for whom English is not the mother tongue and many VECs do this.