Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 October 2018
51. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Peadar Tóibín den Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna maidir le daoine nach bhfuil Gaeilge acu a earcú i scoileanna Gaeltachta, an bhfuil tomhas déanta ag an Rialtas ar an tionchar atá ag an gcleachtas sin ar an nGaeilge i gceantair Ghaeltachta. [41828/18]
View answerDírítear aird i dTuarascáil an Phríomhchigire (2018) ar chohórt suntasach páistí sna cigireachtaí a rinneadh i scoileanna, sa tréimhse Eanáir 2013 go Meitheamh 2016, nach bhfuil dul chun cinn cuí á dhéanamh acu sa Ghaeilge. Luadh go raibh féidearthacht rímhór ann chun feabhas a chur ar dhifreálú in ábhar an cheachta agus ar dheiseanna breise a chruthú do scoláirí chun an teanga a úsáid. Ní dhearnadh anailís ar leith sa tuarascáil seo, ar na sonraí a bhain le caighdeán na Gaeilge i scoileanna Gaeltachta amháin.
Leantar le tuairiscí cigireachta ar scoileanna Gaeltachta aonair a fhoilsiú ar láithreán gréasáin na Roinne. Sna tuairiscí seo, déantar cur síos ar cháilíocht an teagaisc agus na foghlama gach scoil aonair de réir chomhthéacs sochtheangeolaíoch gach scoile.
Léirigh an 15 cás-staidéir a rinne an Chigireacht i 2014 an tslí ina raibh scoileanna Gaeltachta ag plé le dúshláin éagsúla lena n-áirítear meath ar úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht, éagsúlachtaí maidir lena mhéid ina bhfuil an tumoideachas á chur i bhfeidhm, agus na deacrachtaí a bhíonn ag roinnt scoileanna múinteoirí a earcú a mbíonn dóthain líofachta acu sa teanga chun freastal ar riachtanais foghlaimeoirí agus cainteoirí dúchais Gaeilge araon.
Ar mhaithe le cáilíocht an tsoláthair oideachais trí mheán na Gaeilge i scoileanna Gaeltachta a threisiú agus úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht a leathnú, foilsíodh an Polasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta 2017-2022 agus tá na gníomhaíochtaí seo a leanas curtha i bhfeidhm:
- Seoladh an Scéim Aitheantais Scoileanna Gaeltachta i mí Aibreáin 2017. Tá 106 bunscoileanna (79%) agus 28 iar-bhunscoileanna (97%) páirteach sa Scéim agus tá fáil acu ar phacáiste tacaíochtaí lena n-áirítear:
- leithdháileadh breise ar uaireanta teagaisc
- forbairt ghairmiúil leanúnach (FGL) soláthraithe ag an gComhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG)
- cuairteanna comhairleacha breise ón gCigireacht
- deontais d’acmhainní trí mheán na Gaeilge.
- Tionscnaíochtaí chun múinteoirí a sholáthar, ina measc tús curtha le dhá chlár nua oideachas múinteoirí trí mheán na Gaeilge - clár Máistreachta páirtaimseartha ar Oideachas trí Mheán na Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta ó Mheán Fómhair 2018 agus clár B.Oid. trí mheán na Gaeilge (bunmhúinteoireacht) ó Mheán Fómhair 2019.
- Tá baill foirne breise curtha ar fáil don chlár oideachas múinteoirí in OÉ Gaillimh, Máistreacht Ghairmiúil san Oideachas (MGO), chun cur leis an soláthar iar-bhunmhúinteoirí agus le hinniúlacht Ghaeilge na múinteoirí sin.
Question: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the Government has measured the effect of the practice of recruiting teachers, without Irish in Gaeltacht schools, on Irish in Gaeltacht areas?
Answer: The Chief Inspector’s Report (2018) highlights that, in published inspections carried out during the period January 2013 to June 2016, a significant cohort of children is not making appropriate progress in Irish. A considerable potential for improvement in the differentiation of lesson content and in the need to provide increased opportunities for students to use the language, was noted. In this report, data relating to standards of Irish in Gaeltacht schools was not analysed separately. Inspection reports on individual Gaeltacht schools continue to be published on the Department’s website. These reports describe the quality of teaching and learning of each individual school in accordance with each school’s sociolinguistic context.
The 15 case studies carried out by the Inspectorate in 2014 showed how schools in the Gaeltacht were coping with various sociolinguistic challenges including the decline in the use of Irish in the Gaeltacht, variations in the extent to which immersion education was implemented in schools, and difficulties experienced by some schools in the recruitment of teachers with sufficient proficiency in the language to meet the needs of both learners and first-language speakers of Irish. In order to strengthen the quality of Irish-medium educational provision in Gaeltacht schools and extend the use of Irish in the Gaeltacht, the Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022 was published and the following actions have been implemented:
- The Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme was launched in April 2017. 106 primary schools (79%) and 28 post-primary schools (97%) are participating in the Scheme and have access to a package of ongoing supports including:
- additional allocated teaching hours
- continuing professional development (CPD) delivered by An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG)
- additional Inspectorate advisory visits
- grants for Irish-medium resources.
- Teacher supply initiatives including the introduction of two new Irish-medium teacher education programmes, a part-time Masters in Irish-medium and Gaeltacht Education from September 2018 and an Irish-medium B.Ed. programme (primary teaching) from September 2019.
- Additional staffing has been provided for the Professional Masters in Education (PME) teacher education programme in NUI, Galway to increase the supply and Irish-language proficiency of post-primary teachers.
The Chief Inspector’s Report (2018) highlights that a significant cohort of children across inspections carried out in schools, during the period January 2013 to June 2017, are not making appropriate progress in Irish. A considerable potential for improvement in the differentiation of lesson content and the need for increased opportunities for students to use the language was noted. The data relating to standards in Gaeltacht schools in this report was not analysed separately.
Inspection reports on individual Gaeltacht schools, published on the Department’s website, describe the quality of teaching and learning in accordance with each school’s sociolinguistic context.
The 15 case studies carried out by the Inspectorate in 2014 showed how schools in the Gaeltacht were coping with challenges including the decline in the use of Irish, variations in the extent to which immersion education were implemented, and difficulties experienced by some schools in the recruitment of teachers with sufficient proficiency in the language to meet the needs of both learners and first-language speakers of Irish.
In order to strengthen the quality of Irish-medium educational provision in Gaeltacht schools and extend the use of Irish in the Gaeltacht, the Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022 was published and the following actions have been implemented:
- The Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme was launched in April 2017. 106 primary schools (79%) and 28 post-primary schools (97%) are participating in the Scheme and have access to a package of supports including:
- additional allocated teaching hours
- continuing professional development (CPD) delivered by COGG
- Inspectorate advisory visits
- grant for Irish-medium resources.
- Teacher supply initiatives including the introduction of two new Irish-medium teacher education programmes, a part-time Masters in Irish-medium and Gaeltacht Education from September 2018 and an Irish-medium B.Ed. programme (primary teaching) from September 2019
- Additional staffing has been provided for the Professional Masters in Education (PME) teacher education programme in NUI, Galway to increase the supply and Irish-language proficiency of post-primary teachers.
