Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 March 2024
352. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Education if there is funding available for students to attend immersive modern foreign language courses similar to the funding available for post-primary school students to attend the Gaeltacht; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11620/24]
View answer353. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Education if there is funding available for post-primary schools to attend immersive modern foreign language courses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11621/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 352 and 353 together.
I can advise the Deputy that Languages Connect, Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017 – 2026, aims to increase and diversify the teaching and learning of foreign languages.
Post Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI) are fully funded by the Department and charged with implementing a wide range of actions under Languages Connect. They provide free Saturday morning classes to Leaving Certificate students whose school do not have the student numbers to warrant timetabled classes in a range of curricular languages. The number of students enrolled in these classes in 2023/24 are as follows:
|
JAPANESE |
RUSSIAN |
CHINESE |
POLISH |
PORTUGUESE |
LITHUANIAN |
ROMANIAN |
|
113 |
84 |
101 |
161 |
40 |
27 |
120 |
PPLI provide funding for a range of initiatives including language summer camps, school exchanges, foreign language library books and language upskilling for teachers. Some funding is also provided to the Latvian community to provide online Latvian classes, and to schools to provide out-of-curriculum Romanian.
Funding for summer camps is provided to facilitators who can deliver a two-week programme in a lesser taught or heritage language. This is based on approval of an appropriate programme and budget, and a critical mass of student attendance. The two-week camps are for post-primary students attending a post-primary school in Ireland. They support and inspire students through a combination of fun, creativity, and learning. Since 2019 there have been 16 camps funded by PPLI across the country in Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Italian. A call for funding for coordinators to run 2024 summer language camps is currently open until 10th April 2024: Language Summer Camps 2024 | Languages Connect languagesconnect.ie/language-summer-camps-2024/ These camps are fully funded and free for students but a €100 refundable deposit is required to ensure attendance.
Funding for School Exchanges provided through PPLI is an initiative which incentivises schools to increase the number of students participating in school exchanges that focus on having an immersive experience of language learning. Since 2018, PPLI have awarded funding of up to €5,000 p.a. to 39 schools over periods ranging from one to three years amounting to 99 new school exchanges in total. See languagesconnect.ie/exchanges/.
PPLI collaborate with EIL Intercultural Learning (EIL/ AFS), an Irish not-for-profit educational organisation, and provide funding support scholarships to send three senior cycle students abroad every year for 3 months, attending school and staying with a host family. PPLI also collaborate with Euro Languages College and provide funding support to send two senior cycle students on scholarship every summer for three weeks on a fully immersive residential summer camp in Ireland.
Erasmus+ funding is available for schools to apply for in the context of projects that encourage European exchange, cooperation and learning. Some schools have been able to access this funding for immersive language learning experiences abroad and more are being encouraged to do so. See www.leargas.ie/erasmus-plus/.
A wide range of other supports are provided to schools to support the teaching and learning of foreign languages and the diversification of foreign languages in school: ppli.ie/.
Some of the key achievements to date under Languages Connect include:
• The introduction of four new curricular languages for Leaving Certificate (Lithuanian, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese and Polish)
• The inclusion of foreign languages in the Primary Curriculum Framework. Work is now underway on the development of the specification for introduction in primary schools from September 2025.
• The roll out of the Say Yes to Languages sampler module at primary level. This is an eight week module where primary schools can select the language depending on their demographic and resources. A grant of up to €1,600 is available for participating schools of which there are circa. 1,200 in 2023/24 (year 3).
• An annual #ThinkLanguages event for Transition Year students, promoting the benefits of foreign language learning and celebrating the languages and cultural diversity within the school community. Circa. 15,000 TY students participated in the 2023/24 week long event.
• An increase in the number of Foreign Language Assistants appointed to post primary schools from 110 in 2016/17 to 181 in 2023/24. This will increase to 220 under Languages Connect.
• The establishment of new teacher education and language upskilling programmes including one for Spanish in UCC.
Ireland is committed to delivering leaving certificate examinations in all EU languages in accordance with Article 149 of the Treaty of Nice. A range of curricular languages are currently available at Leaving Certificate level including: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, and since September 2020 - Mandarin Chinese, Lithuanian, Polish and Portuguese in accordance with our Foreign Languages Strategy “Languages Connect”.
Students are also able to take an exam in a non-curricular EU language in accordance with the criteria set out on the State Examinations Commission website: Examination Information - State Examination Commission (examinations.ie). In the 2023 Leaving Certificate Exams, 704 students registered to sit a non-curricular language exam in 15 other non-curricular EU languages.
In recognition of the current situation regarding Ukrainian, students who have moved to Ireland due to the ongoing conflict in their home country, the State Examinations Commission will commence development work for Ukrainian as a non-curricular leaving certificate language subject in autumn 2022 for incoming 5th years in September 2023.
