Aindrias Moynihan
Question:184. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Education her consideration of and response to an individual (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17120/24]
View answerThursday, 18 April 2024
Questions (184)
Written answers
The Government recognises the importance of a strong education system in supporting access for all students to Irish language and culture and its significant role in the revitalisation and maintenance of Irish in Gaeltacht communities and beyond.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Irish language is a core subject in the national curricula for recognised primary and post-primary schools and centres for education in Ireland. My Department, through a variety of initiatives, further promotes Irish in the education system and supports Irish-medium education.
The Irish language curricula at primary and post-primary levels have been comprehensively reviewed in recent years. The development of learners’ proficiency in spoken Irish is a fundamental aim in curricular specifications for Irish at all levels. Following extensive research and robust consultation processes, a new Primary Language Curriculum was introduced for all stages in primary school from September 2019
Two new specifications were introduced for Irish at Junior Cycle in 2017, the Language 1/Teanga 1 (T1) specification targeted at students in Irish-medium and Gaeltacht schools and the Language 2/Teanga 2 (T2) specification targeted at students in English-medium schools. An early enactment review of the Junior Cycle Irish T1 and T2 specifications was published in March 2023, and on foot of this review, changes were introduced aiming to increase the focus on oral proficiency by reducing the volume of literature to be studied as well as reimagining the second CBA, the Communicative Task.
Students and teachers’ experience of Junior Cycle Irish T1 and T2 was impacted by the pandemic and other factors during the review period, as noted in the report of the review. Accordingly the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) Council agreed to undertake a follow up review, and this is now underway.
With regards to oral skills specifically, the assessment of skills in spoken Irish forms an integral component of the overall Irish language learning experience at Junior Cycle and occurs in a number of ways. Students' oral language skills are formally assessed through Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs), the second of which is entirely based on students’ oral language competence. The CBA is linked to ongoing classroom exchanges and represents a more authentic reflection of students’ interests and competence levels in Irish.
Importantly, the oral skills of all students as assessed in CBAs are formally reported upon in each students’ Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement. Unlike the previous reporting format in which candidates receive one overall grade based on their achievement in Irish in the Junior Certificate, whether they undertook the optional oral or not, the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement allows students’ achievement in the CBAs to be recorded independently of the result in the state-certified examination.
It is worth noting that the previous oral examination in the Junior Certificate was optional and was taken by approximately 40% of students, and was generally assessed by their teachers. The current assessment arrangements on the other hand require all students to engage in an assessment of their oral skills through the CBA.
With regards to the Senior Cycle, the NCCA carried out a public consultation on draft T1 and T2 specifications for Leaving Certificate (established) Irish over a nine-month period in 2021.
Key consultation findings included, among others, that doubts remain about the model of provision (T1 and T2). In response to the findings of the report, the NCCA paused development work on the draft T1 and T2 Leaving Certificate specifications.
Additional research is being conducted by the NCCA on the model of provision and frameworks used to inform development of curricula for native languages in jurisdictions with a similar profile.
The NCCA recently published a schedule for revision of Senior Cycle specifications. Irish is scheduled for Tranche 4 to be introduced for incoming fifth years in the 2028/29 school year.
A series of stakeholder seminars will also be convened by the NCCA to inform advice on the model of provision.
The NCCA sought expressions of interest last year from teachers interested in becoming involved in updating of the Irish prescribed literature text list. The updated list has now been developed and a draft provided to the Department. A circular is being prepared, which is likely to issue this month.
The Irish Oral test for Higher Level and Ordinary Level candidates accounts for 40% of the overall marks for Leaving Cert Irish.
In response to issues highlighted in NCCA and COGG research about the sraith pictiúr and the conversational elements of the Oral Irish exam, the State Examinations Commission introduced adjustments to the structure of the Common Oral examination for the 2020 exams and thereafter. These aim to create greater opportunity for candidate-examiner interaction and so give the candidate scope to display their competence while keeping a balance between the different parts of the oral exam.
The oral exams didn’t take place in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and since then there have been adjustments to assessment arrangements in light of the pandemic’s impact on teaching and learning including the reduction in the number of picture sequences from 20 to 10. On the 16th of May last, Minister Foley announced that these adjustments would apply again in 2024.
The changes have been made with due regard for the principles of equity, fairness and integrity, in relation to student-to-student, subject-to-subject, and year-to-year comparisons.
I announced on Wednesday that assessment adjustments will continue in 2025. From next year, the SEC will apply a post marking adjustment which will bring the overall Leaving Certificate results in the aggregate to a point broadly midway between the 2020 and 2021 level. The level of future year adjustments to examinations and assessment after 2025 and the timeline for phasing out a post-marking adjustment will be informed by the 2025 experience.
The most recent curricular changes at primary and junior cycle level referred to above have emphasised not only the importance of learning both languages but also the wider benefits of bilingualism. The development of these new language curricula reflects my department’s reassertion of its commitment to the Irish language and to progressing the language education related actions of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030.
A range of supports and initiatives to support teaching and learning are currently underway under the leadership of my Department. An example of this is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Recognising the importance of Irish for all students and the creation of opportunities for partial immersion in Irish, my Department, supported by experts from third level institutions and teacher support services, is piloting a CLIL approach to support Irish in English-medium schools and Early Years settings. This project aims to improve learner competence, confidence and disposition towards Irish. It is intended to extend participation to more schools over time. Participating post-primary schools are focusing on teaching aspects of subjects such as Geography, Home Economics and SPHE to students in first year through Irish, Primary Schools are implementing a CLIL approach to teaching PE in the Infant Classes and/or 5th and 6th Class. Early-Years settings participating in the pilot are running “am lóin” through Irish.
On the issue of Irish medium school numbers, since 2011, arrangements have been in place for the establishment of new schools involving the forecasting of demand for school places based on demographic exercises carried out by my Department.
New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth, as the resources available for school infrastructure have to be prioritised to ensure that every child has a school place.
These arrangements give an opportunity to patrons to apply for the patronage of new schools. The criteria used in deciding on the patronage of new schools place a particular emphasis on parental patronage and language preferences (Irish or English) and an analysis of existing provision (including Irish medium provision) in the areas where the schools are being established. This approach is underpinned by a 2011 Government Decision.
The patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons. An Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) has been in operation under my Department since 2018 and provides objective information to parents in the relevant school planning areas to assist them in making an informed choice about their preferred model of patronage and language of instruction for the new 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.
Department officials and agencies will continue to review and reform the learning and teaching of Irish and increase access to Irish-medium education through the school patronage process as appropriate. It is an aim of Government to increase on an incremental basis the use and knowledge of Irish as a community language, this has been re-affirmed on a number of occasions by the State, including most recently in the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030.