I thank the Chair and members of the committee. The modern languages in primary schools initiative was first launched as a pilot project in 1998. Such was its success that it was designated an initiative in 2001. Our aims are to create a positive attitude towards language learning, to include a variety of schools, to facilitate and support diversification in the languages we teach, and to create links between primary and post-primary schools. More than 27,000 children in schools throughout the country benefit from the opportunity to learn a modern language, which not only lays the foundation for their language learning within the system but also brings many additional benefits, including enhanced cognitive skills, an openness to new cultures and learning experiences and enhanced literacy skills.
The schools originally selected from the 1,300 schools that applied to join the initiative were offered a choice of using their own staff or employing a peripatetic or visiting language teacher. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of schools chose to avail of a visiting teacher with the result that in the early years of the initiative, 80% of teachers involved were visiting teachers. There are currently 545 schools teaching Italian, Spanish, German or French to senior pupils and, where staff capacity permits, to other class groups as well. As all schools joining the project in recent years must have staff capacity to deliver the programme, this, together with our efforts to build language capacity within the system, has brought us to a point where 56% of teachers involved are staff teachers and there is no additional cost to the Department as they deliver the programme as part of their normal work.
As the decision has been predicated on policy, let us turn for a moment to the current languages policy context obtaining in this country. The Department sought advice on the formulation of a national languages and education policy. While recommendations and action points were received from the Council of Europe in 2008, work on this is still ongoing. As such, all language teaching and learning operates within a current language policy vacuum. In his correspondence, the Minister referred to the influence of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, feasibility report from 2008 and its conclusion that curriculum overload is an issue. The same report refers specifically to how the participating schools managed to overcome the challenges of time, widely articulated in the primary curriculum review. It also highlights that in schools offering a third language, Irish and English were reported to have gained. While it did not include modern languages in the curriculum in 2008, it clearly reiterated that the options proposed did not preclude schools continuing with a competency model of language teaching and learning. There are many more positive references to the MLPSI in the feasibility report rather than the narrow interpretation being reflected. The NCCA itself indicated surprise that this "very dated report is being cited in such narrow terms".
It would be of more relevance for the committee to focus on the NCCA's current language policy which has evolved considerably since 2008. A focus of the NCCA's current programme of work is the development of a new integrated languages curriculum for all languages for all children which will embrace a more plurilingual approach to languages. It recently commissioned additional research in this area from Pádraig Ó Duibhir and Jim Cummins to be completed in the coming weeks. As we await the publication of a national languages and education policy, the NCCA believes there is much to be learned from the MLPSI and that this experience and expertise will be valuable to the education system in the context of future policy decisions.
The modern languages in primary school curriculum is completely in line with the primary school curriculum. Modern languages lend themselves particularly well to integration right across the curriculum while also being a valuable vehicle which allows teachers to address issues such as culture, heritage, citizenship and inclusion in a natural and holistic way.
We assure the committee that we are mindful of the need to enhance literacy levels in the system but it is important to note, as has been tested by our schools and independent evaluation reports, that modern language provision has made a positive contribution to literacy in schools, in particular in disadvantaged areas.
Having spoken about this country, I would like to allude briefly to developments in language policy across Europe. These have happened at a much more significant rate in other jurisdictions, largely due to commitments made under the Lisbon strategy in 2000 and further detailed in the Barcelona agreement from 2002 which committed member states to take action to "improve the mastery of basic skills, particularly to teaching at least two foreign languages from a very early age". Many countries have introduced more than one additional language to their primary systems, and schools are introducing them to pupils at an earlier age. The MLPSI allows this country to work towards fulfilling obligations in the future when it is to be hoped all children will be able to learn more languages, as they can in other countries. If modern language provision ceases, regrettably we will see a return to the situation which prevailed prior to 1998 when the only children with multilingual skills in this country were those from multilingual families and those who could afford to pay for the privilege. In many ways, the decision to end the MLPSI comes at a time when there has never been as much momentum behind the languages agenda in educational and economic terms. This brings me to the fundamental importance of language learning for the Irish economy. The OECD now refers to the term "international competence" as a combination of languages and intercultural skills which employees will need to compete in the jobs market of today and tomorrow. IBEC, Forfás, the expert group on future skills needs, the IDA, the Royal Irish Academy and even the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation as well as economists and industry leaders have all highlighted the language skills deficit in this country which affects not only indigenous companies wishing to capitalise on export potential but also multinationals which have their European and international bases here.
Sustaining early modern language learning will ensure our children have an interest in and a love of languages and will become lifelong learners of language and enjoy enhanced literacy levels as well as the many other benefits associated with an early introduction to modern languages. The model for modern language provision in its current form delivers exceptional value for money and helps children achieve valuable learning outcomes. The costs involved have decreased and the MLPSI has been congratulated on its efficient delivery of enhanced services with a decreasing budget. It is a cost-effective model which gives professional support to 545 principals and almost 500 teachers, of whom more than 200 are employed directly by the programme. Should the MLPSI end, this investment would be lost to the system and the loss of the significant number of teaching positions would be a source of great regret.
In our submission we have outlined possible options for the Department to consider and we are more than willing to discuss these and any other proposals with the Minister and his officials. I thank the committee members for their attention and we are more than happy to answer any questions or provide clarification on any aspect of our submission.
