In order to ensure that children whose first language is not English can succeed at school, my Department gives additional support to their schools which can take the form of financial assistance, additional teaching posts or portions of teacher posts.
The level of extra financial or teaching support provided to any school is determined by the numbers of eligible non-English speaking students enrolled. Recent years have seen a significant rise in the number of language support posts being provided by my Department. In the current school year there are more than 1,100 such teachers in our schools, at a cost of €67 million. This compares with approximately 820 language support teachers last year and just 260 in the 2001/02 school year. Hence there has been more than a four-fold increase in language support posts over the past few years.
In addition to the full-time posts approved, grants towards the cost of employing part-time teachers are paid to primary schools with between 3 and 13 eligible non-national pupils. In the 2005/06 school year, 409 schools sought grant aid under this provision.
Between extra language support posts and grant aid, the level of support provided to schools to meet the needs of children whose first language is not English has increased dramatically in recent years. Nonetheless I am very conscious of the pressures on schools — such as those referred to by the Deputy — that have large numbers of non-English speaking children enrolled. I am determined to provide greater support for these schools.
To that end, provision has been made in the 2007 Estimates for an extra 200 language support teachers in 2007. A further 350 posts will be provided under the Towards 2016 partnership agreement between 2008 and 2009. These extra posts will allow the current cap of 2 teachers per school to be reformed.
While details as to the precise number of posts to be allocated at both levels in the current school year and the schools to which the posts will be allocated have yet to be finalised I can assure the Deputy that I will be anxious to ensure that the additional resources are properly targeted at those areas where they are most needed.
A comprehensive strategy is currently being finalised which will ensure that the extra investment in this area is being used to the best effect, and that it is underpinned by the right support and training for teachers.
