Brendan Griffin
Ceist:298. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on a matter regarding a school (details supplied) in County Kerry. [45030/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 6 November 2018
Ceisteanna (298)
Freagraí scríofa
Since the establishment of An tAonad um Oideachas Gaeltachta within the Department of Education and Skills, significant progress has been made in relation to the development of the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme following consultation with relevant stakeholders, and commencement of its implementation in schools. The objective of the Scheme is to allow participating schools, following consultation with their local communities, to seek to achieve Gaeltacht School Recognition over a 5 year period on the basis of the implementation of specific language-based criteria, including the implementation of a total-immersion approach and the development of action plans by schools.
To encourage participation in the Scheme by schools, a comprehensive information pack outlining the benefits of immersion education and bilingualism was sent to schools for dissemination to school communities, including parents and teachers. The information pack was developed by the Gaeltacht Education Unit in the Department in collaboration with An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG), Gaeloideachas, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Údarás na Gaeltachta.
In April 2017, all schools in Gaeltacht language-planning areas, including the primary school in question, were invited to participate in the Scheme. The Scheme has been welcomed by Gaeltacht communities and well-received in Gaeltacht schools. This is evident from the high participation rates in the Scheme. 106 or 80% of primary schools and 28 or 96% of post-primary schools in the Gaeltacht have opted to participate in the Scheme. The primary school referred to by the Deputy joined the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme in June 2017 and submitted its action plan to the Gaeltacht Education Unit for review in January 2018.
Each participating school’s action plans for improvement was reviewed by An tAonad um Oideachas Gaeltachta in February 2018 and feedback was provided to each individual school. This enabled each participating school, including the school in question, to access additional resources from September 2018. These resources include access to a grant to purchase Irish-medium teaching resources, additional language-teaching hours (an additional 7.5 hours per week in the case of the primary school concerned), additional continuing professional development delivered by COGG, and additional advisory visits provided by the Inspectorate.
The additional language support hours (over and above the normal staffing allocation), allocated to primary schools participating in the Scheme from September 2018, was based on the enrolment figures recorded in the previous year, which is in line with Department norms. Schools at primary level, were given the option to combine these additional language support hours with other primary schools in the locality to form clusters, which would allow for the creation of a temporary part-time teaching post that would be shared by the primary schools in the particular cluster. The primary school concerned was also given this option.
The general staffing allocation arrangements for 2018/19 for all primary schools, including the school in question, are set out in Circular 10/2018. The staffing arrangements allow for more favourable retention rates in Gaeltacht schools than in other schools. Appendix A of Circular 10/2018 sets out the criteria for the current school year: www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/Teacher-Allocations/Teacher-Allocations-Primary.html.
The staffing allocation arrangements for 2019/20 will be published early in 2019.