Denis Naughten
Ceist:220 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science if, further to correspondence (details supplied), he will address the issue concerned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10503/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 6 April 2004
Ceisteanna (135)
Freagraí scríofa
At primary level teachers are class teachers rather than subject specialists and must be qualified to teach the range of primary school subjects to children aged from four to 12 years. Accordingly, applicants must satisfy my Department that they are competent to teach the Irish language and to teach the range of primary school curricular subjects through the medium of Irish before being granted full recognition to teach in mainstream classes in national schools. Teachers trained outside the jurisdiction of the State, whose qualifications have been assessed and accepted by my Department, but who do not possess an appropriate Irish language qualification, are granted a five year period of provisional recognition to teach in mainstream classes in national schools. During this period these teachers are expected to obtain their Irish language qualification in order to become fully recognised. These teachers are remunerated in the same manner as fully qualified teachers during this period. In order to satisfy the Irish language requirements for recognition as a primary teacher, applicants, who have been granted provisional recognition, must pass the written, aural and oral parts of the Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge. Candidates who have Irish to primary degree level may be granted an exemption from paper II of the SCG and provide certification that they have resided in the Gaeltacht while attending an approved three-week course or its aggregated equivalent either in one-week blocks or in a combination of one-week and two-week blocks. On successful completion of the SCG, my Department pays a grant of €431.71 to the individual concerned towards the cost of attendance at the Gaeltacht course.
The standard required to obtain a pass in the SCG is the standard of Irish that would enable teachers to teach the language to sixth class in a national school. Candidates must therefore demonstrate that they have attained the level of language competence described in the syllabus and reflected in the examination papers, and that they understand the methodology of teaching Irish as a second language. It must be borne in mind that many primary schools not only teach Irish but also have Irish as the principal language of instruction and communication generally. The number of such schools has grown significantly in recent years. A primary teacher may have to teach pupils whose mother tongue is Irish, or who are competent users of the language. Even when teaching Irish to pupils whose mother tongue is English or another language, it is widely accepted by language teachers that, in order to be effective, the teacher needs to have a very good command of the language.
I established a working group to review all aspects of the syllabus and examination for the SCG in 2001 which recently submitted its report to me. A copy of the report has been published on my Department's website. Issues dealt with in the report include the content and format of the examination modules, the standard of the examinations, courses of study for applicants for the examinations and the period of provisional recognition granted to applicants within which they are expected to pass the SCG. The report is under consideration and decisions on its recommendations contained in it will be taken very shortly. The working group earlier drafted an interim syllabus which was circulated to all schools in December, 2002. The SCG examinations held in October, 2003 were the first series of SCG examinations to be based on this syllabus copies of which, including a reading list of prose and poetry to be studied for the examinations, are available on request from Primary Administration Section 1, Department of Education and Science, Cornamaddy, Athlone, County Westmeath.
An updated language syllabus for the SCG has also been published on the Department's website together with a handbook for the examination which was drafted by the working group. The handbook contains detailed information on the SCG and provides answers to a wide range of questions raised by candidates. It is planned to produce a textbook of relevant prose and poetry for future examinations.