Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 31 Jan 1990

Vol. 395 No. 1

Written Answers. - Foreign Language Courses.

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

73 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Education the number of post-primary schools which offer (a) French (b) German (c) Italian and (d) Spanish to Leaving Certificate level; the number of schools which offer combinations of the aforementioned languages to Leaving Certificate; the progress which has been made in respect of the Lingua Programme announced by her at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis in February, 1989; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Education (Mrs. O'Rourke)

I have provided the statistical information required by the Deputy in the table which I propose to circulate for inclusion in the Official Report.

With regard to the Lingua Programme, the position is that this programme was adopted by European Education Ministers on 22 May 1989. The programme is designed to promote foreign language competence in the European Community. The overall budget for the five year period 1990-94 is £154 million.

The year 1990 is primarily a preparatory year and with the exception of mobility grants for students specialising in foreign languages or studying a foreign language in conjunction with another dicipline the other actions under the programme will not commence until 1 January 1991.

Consideration is ongoing in my Department to ensure that we exploit fully the opportunities afforded by this excellent programme.

Number of Schools Providing the Stated Subject to Leaving Certificate

French	741	(738)
German	178	(159)
Spanish	85	(71)
Italian	13	(3)

Total Number of Schools Providing the Leaving Certificate Course 780

Number of Schools Providing One Language Only to Leaving Certificate and the Language Provided

French	518	(539)
German	3	(3)
Spanish	5	(5)
Italian	—	(—)

Number of Schools Providing Two Languages Only to Leaving Certificate and the Combination Provided

French and German	137	(130)
French and Spanish	45	(42)
French and Italian	—	(1)
German and Spanish	—	(—)
German and Italian	—	(—)
Spanish and Italian	—	(—)

Number of Schools Providing Three Languages Only to Leaving Certificate and the Combination Provided

French, German and Spanish	28	(24)
French, German and Italian	6	(2)
French, Spanish and Italian	3	(—)
German, Spanish and Italian	—	(—)

Number of Schools Providing All Four Languages to Leaving Certificate

French, German, Spanish and Italian

4

(—)

Note: The above data refer to the 1987/88 Academic Year. Data in brackets are exclusive of schools who returned themselves on the Annual Statistical Return as providing a language to two pupils or less. In a number of such cases, the language may be provided in association with the school, e.g., by one of the school's teachers outside of normal school hours, rather than by the school within the normal meaning of that phrase. It would also appear that, in some cases where schools returned themselves as providing a language to a small number of pupils, the pupils concerned were studying the language privately outside the school system.