Éamon Ó Cuív
Question:88. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív den Aire Oideachais cad é beartas na Roinne maidir le bunú Gaelscoileanna agus Gaelcholáistí; agus an ndéanfaidh sí ráiteas ina thaobh. [30560/23]
View answerThursday, 29 June 2023
Questions (88)
Oral answers (7 contributions)
An cheist atá agam ná cad iad na beartais atá ag an Roinn maidir le bunú Gaelscoileanna agus Gaelcholáistí agus céard iad na critéir a thógtar san áireamh len é sin a dhéanamh?
Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta Ó Cuív, as ucht aird a tharraingt ar an éileamh atá ar oideachas lán-Ghaeilge faoi láthair. Mar Aire Oideachais, teastaíonn uaimse a chinntiú go ndéanfar soláthar cuí do dhaoine óga ar mian leo a gcuid oideachais a fháil trí mheán na Gaeilge. Mar chuid den Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge, tá mo Roinn tiomanta do dheiseanna a chruthú chun oideachas lán-Ghaeilge a leathnú lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht. Tá sé seo ag dul ar aghaidh i gcomhthéacs na bhfógraí maidir le bunú daichead is a seacht scoil nua ón bhliain 2019. Tugann an próiseas atá ann chun pátrúnacht na scoileanna nua seo a shocrú aird ar leith do bhunú Ghaelscoileanna, Gaelcholáistí agus aonaid lán-Ghaeilge.
In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. Where demographic data indicate that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may be provided through utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools, extending the capacity of a school or schools, or the provision of a new school or schools.
A patronage process is run after it has been decided, based on demographic analysis, that a new school is required. The patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons. Parental preferences, as well as other considerations such as the extent of diversity of provision in an area, are key to the decision-making process. Such analysis impacts whether, at post-primary level, a school will take the form of an Irish-medium Gaelcholáiste or whether, if English-medium, the school will include an Irish-medium unit. Where there is demand for an Irish-medium school, but not at the 600 to 1,000 pupil level, a lower threshold of 400 students may apply to Gaelcholáistí. Alternatively, an Irish-medium aonad may be established in an English-medium school.
In 2019, measures were announced to increase access to Irish-medium education as part of the patronage process for primary schools, including that five new primary schools being established from 2020 have been designated for Irish-medium education. Outside of the patronage process for new schools, it is also possible for any post-primary school patron to contact my Department with a view to establishing an aonad. As regards the new policy for Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht, public consultation concluded on 30 June.
There is a lot of information there. The Minister mentioned 47 new schools. How many of those schools were either Gaelscoileanna or Gaelcholáistí? The Minister mentioned the figure of 400 in relation to the setting up of a Gaelcholáiste.
Can the Minister tell me the difference in criteria between setting up a Gaelcholáiste and an aonad in a scoil Bhéarla?
The Deputy is correct. Where there is a desire to set up a school, the normal criteria is that it should have between a 600 and 1,000 pupil level available to it within the community. However, for the Gaelcholáistí, 400 is required. The aonaid are open to any school. They are entitled to approach the Department with the request to establish an aonad within the existing school.
I know and accept that it is not everybody's preference in terms of the aonaid, and we had this discussion previously at committee, but there are opportunities maybe for us to look at how the aonaid could be supported in schools and how the differentiation between the main school and the aonad could work. The strategy is currently being worked on for oideachas Gaeilge lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht. A singular key focus of that is how best to support the growth of the Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí.
The Department keeps quoting this figure of 47. What I am trying to find out is how many of those schools were Gaelscoileanna or Gaelcholáistí. That is the first point, and it is specific because some people, including me, got fooled when the figure of 47 was mentioned because they were all Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí. I do not think they were, however.
The second question is about whether any study has been done on the linguistic effectiveness of the aonad versus the Gaelcholáiste and whether they deliver what the parents desire them to deliver, that is, an Irish-speaking school community. If it has not been done, would the Minister commission a study on the effectiveness?
There is a third part to the question, if the Chair gives me a little indulgence. Do I understand that aonaid are only set up at the request of a school and not at the request of parents or parents who are not in the school? In other words, it would be the existing school population, including the school and parents of the children there, but not other people in the community who might like Irish-language education.
I will take the last question first. The Department has a huge openness to working with anybody. Where there would be seen to be an interest and enthusiasm to establish an aonad, in the first instance, obviously, the school itself can approach the Department. If a need is identified in an area not associated with the school, however, I would like to think there would be an openness in terms of collaboration for all of us to work together to maybe source an appropriate school or whatever the case might be. We want this to work. We will, therefore, take a very open and flexible approach but, obviously, we will need the co-operation of everybody in the education sector in an immediate area to support it. We will take a very proactive and definite approach in which we include as many people as possible.
In terms of the aonaid, from my own experience, I am aware that even within my constituency, schools started out as aonaid and then developed into Gaelcholáistí. Indeed, we have seen that across the country. I will come back to the Deputy on the study. For example, part of the strategy is looking very specifically at ways of maybe supporting the aonaid, Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí. That is very much intrinsic in the strategy. I am happy to do any body of work that might be required. I will come back to the Deputy on the figure of 47 because I do not want to set him astray.
The Minister might do that.