John Lahart
Question:196. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of English language schools and colleges here; and the number of nationalities attending them proportionately by nationality. [23784/16]
View answerThursday, 21 July 2016
Questions (196)
Written answers
The majority of English language schools in Ireland are privately run. Statistics on the number and nationality of students attending English language schools in Ireland are not maintained by my Department. The Deputy may wish to contact the Garda National Immigration Bureau, which has responsibility for registering non EEA students, in this regard.
However, my Department possesses data on the number of English language schools that are included on the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP) and/or are registered with ACELS (Accreditation and Co-ordination of English Language Services).
English language schools in Ireland seeking to enrol non EEA students must be listed on the ILEP. The ILEP, which is operated and maintained by the Department of Justice and Equality, is a list of education programmes considered to justify the granting of permission to students to live and work in Ireland. At present there are 126 providers listed on the ILEP.
Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) operates ACELS, a voluntary scheme which grants recognition to English language schools in Ireland annually. Currently, there are 100 English language schools nationwide holding ACELS recognition. It should be noted that many ACELS recognised schools are also listed on the ILEP.
The ILEP process is an interim measure until the introduction of the International Education Mark (IEM) for the provision of education to international learners, which will provide a full quality framework in the future. The measures necessary to facilitate the introduction of the IEM are being progressed by my Department.