Dara Calleary
Question:245. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education when she expects to publish the policy on Irish medium education outside the Gaeltacht; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7406/24]
View answerTuesday, 20 February 2024
Questions (245)
Written answers
Work is progressing in my Department on the development of the new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht.
The steering committee which includes representatives drawn from relevant Government Departments and Agencies, is continuing to oversee the development of the policy.
A public consultation process has been conducted to gather the views of stakeholders, including young people, parents, education professionals, education stakeholders and Irish-language organisations. There were three phases in this consultation – an online questionnaire and a call for written submissions, a series of focus groups with primary school pupils and post-primary school students, and stakeholders, and bilateral meetings between officials from my Department and stakeholders.
The Sealbhú research centre in DCU has undertaken an analysis of the information gathered during the consultation. The reports are currently being reviewed by the Steering Committee and will be published online in due course.
A number of actions are being taken to ensure that the new policy will be informed by current research:
• A review of national and international literature has been commissioned through a public procurement process and has been carried out by Sealbhú, DCU. This research focuses on teaching through the medium of minority languages in various jurisdictions with contexts similar to the Irish context
• A report giving an overview of provision for Irish-medium education outside of Gaeltacht areas was compiled and published by my Department.
• Research has been carried out on Irish-medium Aonaid and Sruthanna (Units and Streams) in English-medium schools.
• Two composite reports on inspection findings on the quality of educational provision in Irish-medium primary and post-primary schools were published in spring 2021. A report on inspection findings from visits to Irish-medium early learning and care settings is also being prepared.
I look forward to progressing this important work of strengthening Irish-medium education provision and building on the positive outcomes already being achieved in the implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education. My Department will continue to work with relevant stakeholders in the development of this policy.