Vol. 552 No. 3
190 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science his views on the concerns of many leaving certificate students who find the higher and ordinary level Irish course extremely difficult; his further views on the fact that this often leads to negative attitudes to the Irish language; the reason the content of the Irish course is so academic and does not resemble the courses for European languages; and his plans for a review of these courses. [12359/02]
The perception that students find leaving certificate Irish extremely difficult is not borne out by the uptake of the higher level paper or by the leaving certificate results. During the period 1999-2001, the percentage of the cohort of students taking the higher level leaving certificate examination in Irish went from 24% to 31%. As a comparison during the same period, the percentage of the cohort taking higher level French went up by just under 1%. When results in Irish for 2001 are compared with results in a range of the most popular leaving certificate subjects, for example, English, French and biology, the percentage of students achieving a "C" grade or better at both higher and ordinary levels is higher than in the other subjects. The percentage of pupils achieving an "E" grade or lower in 2001 was 1.4% in higher level Irish as compared with 5.2% in higher level French, and 5.1% in ordinary level Irish as compared with 7.5% in ordinary level French. Students also have the option of taking a foundation level paper in leaving certificate Irish or of taking Irish in the leaving certificate applied.
The structure of the leaving certificate syllabus for Irish is very similar to that for the modern languages. The syllabus is set out under notional/functional headings, the four language skills, viz., listening, speaking, reading and writing are covered and the implied teaching methodology is based on a communicative approach. It is true that at higher and ordinary levels there is some literature prescribed for candidates taking Irish. In the case of the ordinary level candidate, this consists only of five poems and five short prose pieces, chosen for their appeal to young people. It is only at higher level that candidates are required to study an integral text. Since students have studied Irish all the way through primary school, it is to be expected that they can cope with this prescription by the end of their post-primary studies.
