Imní san Iarthar faoin bpolasaí oideachais Gaeltachta
Feabhra 15, 2017
Tá sé tugtha le fios ag an Roinn Oideachais do Bhord Oideachais agus Oiliúna na Gaillimhe agus Ros Comáin nach mbeidh aon mhúinteoir breise á cheapadh faoin bpolasaí oideachais Gaeltachta don scoilbhliain seo chugainn.
Níl aon dáta tugtha ag an Roinn ach an oiread faoin uair a bhfuil sé i gceist an chuid seo den pholasaí a chomhlíonadh.
Dúirt baill an Bhoird inné go bhfuil imní orthu faoi cheann de na moltaí is tábhachtaí sa pholasaí a d’fhógair an Roinn ag deireadh na bliana seo caite a bheith á chur ar an méar fhada ag an Roinn cheana féin.
Dúirt stiúrthóir scoileanna an Bhoird Tomás Mac Pháidín le RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta go bhfuil sé iarrtha air anois cruinniú a eagrú ar bhonn práinne leis an Roinn Oideachais leis an gceist seo a phlé.
New Principal appointed for Dunamase College
Feabhra 10, 2017
The newest post primary school in Portlaoise, Dunamase College, has announced the appointment of its first principal, Aoife Elster. Ms. Elster will take up her new role in March at the temporary school premises in Railway Street.
Speaking about the appointment, Paul Fields, Director of Schools at Laois Offaly ETB, stated that, “the appointment of the principal is a significant step in establishing the school within the community.
“The fact that the principal will be in place from March onwards will ensure that all of the necessary preparations for the opening of Dunamase College will be in place before the school opens its doors to students in September”, he said.
The new principal, Aoife Elster is originally from Dublin but has been living in the Midlands for almost three decades.
Her background is in science and she worked for several years in the oil industry in London before moving to Laois. She has been involved in education for over two decades and has worked in both Irish and English medium schools.
She has extensive experience in the setting up and development of new schools, having been involved with Gael-Choláiste Chill Dara in Naas from its inception in 2004 and most recently she has been the founding principal of Choláiste Ghlór na Mara, a 1000 pupil second level school in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.
Science and mathematics are a lifelong passion, and this has been reflected in her own learning and teaching.
She has recent postgraduate qualifications in Mathematics and Education from NUIM, in association with the University of Cambridge. She also developed distance learning strategies, teaching physics in two counties simultaneously over the internet.
Her vision for education involves the widespread use of appropriate technologies and modern teaching methods. She is particularly interested in using technology to increase accessibility to additional subjects and learners. She also has a strong interest in culture and music.
She is a keen walker and walks in the Sliabh Blooms most weekends and has walked several parts of the Camino de Santiago in recent years. Aoife is married to Stephen, and has two adult children; Naomi, a cancer researcher and writer, and Ciarán, a musician and teacher, both of whom are working abroad at the moment.
Chief Executive at Laois Offaly ETB, Joe Cunningham expressed his belief that, “the appointment of the new principal is another practical step in establishing Dunamase College as a significant provider of post primary education within Portlaoise”.
He took the opportunity to remind parents that an information meeting will take place on Thursday 16th. February @ 7.30, Railway Street, for any interested parents.
http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/home/234636/new-principal-appointed-for-dunamase-college.html
Speaking Irish to my baby son in London is creating a special bond
Feabhra 8, 2017
The first word I said to my newborn son was “Fáilte”, and eight months later, I’ve spoken to him almost entirely in Irish.
Up to that point, as is the case for many Irish people, my Leaving Certificate oral exam was the longest conversation in Irish I’d ever had, in all it’s ten minutes of nervous banality.
When I decided to speak to my first child in Irish, I had no idea the adventure that was about to begin. His mother didn’t speak a word, and we live in London, but I hoped our child would have a stronger sense of his Irish identity – and a unique connection with me – if we could communicate through my second language, Irish.
It’s been a huge learning curve, but no more than every other aspect of becoming a parent. I’ve learned to change nappies, while also learning the Irish word for nappy (clúidín). I’ve realised the most fundamental gaps in my Irish – from what to say when he sneezes (Dia leat) to all the verses of Baidín Fheilimí (though with the names of the Donegal islands sometimes exchanged for East London neighbourhoods).
The reaction from other people have been the biggest surprise, with friends and family using their cúpla focail with our son from time to time. Even his mamaí George has picked up a few words, and can ask him if his bainne is blasta and to say slán with him when I leave for work in the morning. When we’re out and about, people don’t bat an eyelid, as it’s nothing unusual to hear just one of the hundreds of languages in London.
The repetitive nature of speaking to a baby turns out to be perfect way for a learner like me to increase their vobabulary, and it certainly helps prevent the mundane things such as feeding, clothing and bathing getting tedious.
After a few months though, I was feeling a bit isolated as the only person properly speaking Irish to my son. I knew that if he was to speak as well as understand Irish properly, he’d need to hear other people speaking it too, so I started making enquiries to find any Irish speaking playgroups or naoinraí in London. It turned out that there hadn’t been one in London for over ten years, but with the support of the London Irish Centre and the wider Irish community, a few of us parents have now started an Irish playgroup for a new generation.
The London Irish Playgroup has since attracted dozens of families from across London and neighbouring counties, with children from newborn up to eight years old. We meet monthly at the London Irish Centre in Camden to sing songs, read stories, and use the bit of Irish we have with our children.
Research suggests this bilingual upbringing has numerous benefits for mental development, not only connecting children to the language of some of their ancestors, but also giving them a headstart in learning other languages so they can connect with the wider world.
In the meantime, it’s a great source of fun for my son and I, and a special way I have chosen to communicate my love to him.
For more information, join the London Irish Playgroup on Facebook, or email shanakee@gmail.com.
Polasaí na Roinne Oideachais maidir le bunú Gaelscoileanna á imscrúdú ag an gCoimisinéir Teanga
Feabhra 3, 2017
Fad is atá an t-imscrúdú reachtúil sin ar bun ag an gCoimisinéir, tá sé deimhnithe ag an Aire Oideachais go bhfuil athrú déanta ar pholasaí pátrúnachta na Roinne maidir le ceist na Gaeilge i roghnú scoileanna nua.
Roimhe seo, bunaithe ar chúrsaí daonáirimh amháin a bhíodh próiseas measúnaithe pátrúnachta na Roinne do scoileanna nua, ach dheimhnigh an tAire Oideachais sa Dáil go mbeadh teanga teagaisc na scoile “ina dlúthchuid” feasta den phróiseas.
Idir an dá linn, tá imscrúdú ar bun ag an gCoimisinéir Teanga maidir le gearán faoi dhiúltú na Roinne d’iarratas ar ghaelscoil nua i dtuaisceart Bhaile Átha Cliath, iarratas a raibh os cionn 330 teaghlach luaite leis.
Cuireadh an t-imscrúdú ar bun de thoradh gearán a rinneadh le hOifig an Choimisinéara faoi dhiúltú na Roinne d’iarratas a rinne an Foras Pátrúnachta ar scoil nua lán-Ghaeilge a bhunú i gceantar Dhroim Conrach agus Marino i mBaile Átha Cliath.
Ó cuireadh tús leis an imscrúdú seo, tá athrú déanta ar pholasaí na Roinne, athrú a ndearna an tAire Oideachais cur síos air sa Dáil le déanaí.
“… My Department has moved to incorporate the medium of instruction of a proposed new school as an integral part of the patronage assessment and recommendation process. In this regard, as part of the application process, prospective patrons must submit completed parental preferences and indicate their preference for their child(ren) to be educated through that patron’s school model and also their preference with regard to education through the medium of English or Irish. The assessment process includes an analysis of Irish medium provision in the area and the adjacent school planning areas,” a dúirt an tAire Oideachais, Richard Bruton.
Dúirt Ard-Rúnaí an Fhorais Pátrúnachta, Caoimhín Ó hEaghra le Tuairisc.ie, áfach, nach aon leigheas é an t-athrú seo ar pholasaí na Gaeilge ar na deacrachtaí a bhaineann le bunú scoileanna lán-Ghaeilge.
“Ní chinnteoidh an t-athrú seo go mbeidh oideachas lán-Ghaeilge ar fáil i gceantar nach bhfuil sé ar fáil ann cheana agus ba chóir polasaí a thabhairt isteach a chinnteoidh go mbeidh oideachas lán-Ghaeilge ar fáil in aon cheantar nach bhfuil sé ar fáil, pé acu oideachas ilchreidmheach, Caitliceach nó eile atá á éileamh sa cheantar sin.
“Is léir, áfach, fiú i gceantair ina bhfuil éileamh fíorláidir ar oideachas lán-Ghaeilge, mar a bhí i dtuaisceart Bhaile Átha Cliath anuraidh, nach bhfuil an córas in ann freastal ar an éileamh. Níl an córas cothrom ná feiliúnach. Is í an chéad teanga náisiúnta atá i gceist,” a dúirt Caoimhín Ó hEaghra le Tuairisc.ie.
A letter to the editor of the Irish Independent
Feabhra 2, 2017
Dear Sir/Madam,
In her recent opinion article Language a bigger barrier than baptism (Irish Independent, 21 January 2017), Sarah Carey tells readers that she often quotes the example of Finland in addressing “nationalistic Irish language nonsense”, which, as far as she is concerned, is “the ultimate barrier in the Irish education system.”
Acknowledging many of Finland’s enviable achievements in education, she proceeds to use that country’s example to attack Irish-medium education in Gaelscoileanna as a “ruthless obstacle to foreigners.”
Assured of her understanding of Finnish education, Ms Carey regrets that “alas space prevents me from elucidating”.
Ms Carey has previous form in the matter. In Parents, not priests, driving segregation. The Irish Times blames religion for segregating Irish children. What about Gaelscoileanna (sic) (Irish Independent, 1 March 2015) she made much the same claim with “alas, space prevents me from elaborating”.
When recently considering the net effect of Gaelscoileanna on Irish society, Ms Carey couldn’t “help thinking of the World War II arguments of George Orwell that pacifists were objectively pro-Nazi”. Why? “Gaelscoileanna,” she argues, “with their almost 100pc native Irish demographic, are objectively segregationist.”
Ms Carey was just as big into the whole war theme in her 2015 missive. “If you’re going to fight a war over segregation in schools, identifying the real problem is a good start.” In her eyes, Irish-medium education is the enemy as aided and abetted by “families in the Gaelscoileanna (who) sail along blissfully free of moral challenge.” She thus paints many Irish families less as morally-driven pacifists and more like amoral Vichy-style profiteers I think.
Whenever Nazi comparisons are inappropriate, we may question the validity of arguments proposed.
Ms Carey argues that Finland’s educational reforms have succeeded because “everyone did better when there was no choice” because all children in a given locality went to the same school.
Pasi Sahlberg, the renowned Finnish educator, can help Ms Carey with her poor grasp of choice in Finland’s education success.
In Finland, the elimination of consumerist choice was targeted at the way education can be packaged as a market-driven product where an increasing number of profit-motivated private operators compete with different ‘value propositions’ in different customer segments based on differing incomes and social status. (Although not a fan of private schooling as a matter of general principle, Mr Sahlberg differentiates between mission-driven schools charging fees such as those in Ireland and profit-and-greed-driven academies more recently introduced by “competition raises standards” ideologies in other countries.)
Mr Sahlberg puts it this way: “The question is not, however, choice or no choice. It is about whether we have a good school for all children or just for some. In the end we need to work out how we manage parental choice so that it doesn’t harm equity.”
While Finland has indeed achieved remarkable reforms of its education system in a way that Ireland most clearly hasn’t, there is in fact a very significant element of choice in Finnish education that will likely shock Ms Carey. Not only is this matter of choice immensely significant in the context of a modern and open Finnish society, it is of course immediately relevant to debate here about the role of Irish-medium education and the Irish language in Ireland.
For all her readiness to elaborate and elucidate on Finland’s education reforms, it seems clear that Ms Carey doesn’t know that Finland’s education policymakers are strongly committed to the provision of choice in schools’ language medium for instruction and learning. Mr Sahlberg again: “It is noteworthy that Finland is a trilingual country, where Finnish, Swedish, and Sami are all official languages.”
Finland’s constitution and its parliamentary legislation protect the language rights of the country’s different language communities and heritages. There is a very substantive offering of choice between Finnish-medium education and Swedish-medium education extending from pre-school all the way to postgraduate studies at doctoral level. Demographics dictate that the opportunity to learn through the medium of Swedish is not fully nationwide but Folktinget (a lobby group for the rights of Swedish-speaking Finns) suggest that up to 99pc of students who want to learn through Swedish can do so within the state-school system. Resources are also committed to Sami-language education provision in the far north of the country.
Finland’s education policymakers and world-renowned experts are not exhorting citizens to “look at who’s doing the excluding” or how Swedish-speaking Finns are “objectively segregationist.” Finland does respect and tolerance much better than Ms Carey.
Finland is not only a world leader in the quality of state-school education, it is also recognised as a leader in language education and plurilingualism. Monta rautaa tulessa (many irons in the fire) sums up how Finns regard, value and take pride in their language skills.
Not all is perfect but there is much to learn from Finland if we pay attention to its real lessons instead of Ms Carey’s alternative facts.
Some facts will be clear. Ms Carey will not be able to “elucidate” how Finnish-speaking, Swedish-speaking or Sami-speaking Finns regard their language heritage as nationalistic nonsense. Nor will she be able to “elaborate” on how Finns regard choice of language medium for education as a ruthless obstacle to foreigners wishing to integrate into Finnish society.
There is concern in Finland about uneven concentration of immigrant learners across the education system. Sahlberg once more: “For example, in the city of Espoo, there are schools with more than 40% immigrant student populations, while some schools have practically no immigrants.” Immigrants unsurprisingly tend to choose the Finnish-speaking schools of the majority demographic rather than Swedish-speaking ones. Sahlberg nevertheless believes that “Finland has been able to enhance equity in education while schools and classroom have become more diverse”.
Interestingly, Sahlberg notes research showing that immigrant students in Finland performed significantly better in PISA tests than their peers in other countries. Based on the same studies, he also believes there is a threshold of about 20% “in the proportion of immigrant students per class after which the learning achievement of all students in that class begins to decline”.
Alas, space prevents further discussion of Finland’s and Ireland’s shared characteristics and different experiences. However, I would like to add that the success of Gaelscoileanna and the Irish-medium education movement clearly mirrors aspects of what has worked so successfully in Finland. With special regard to the development of language skills in both Irish and in foreign languages, Finland offers important lessons for policymakers and other stakeholders in Irish education.
Equally, the success of Gaelscoileanna and the Irish-medium education movement also offer key lessons for policymakers and stakeholders interested in the development of language skills for living and prospering in a global world. Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin.
In summing up, I will paraphrase Ms Carey from 2015: Since her analysis is flawed, so is her suggested solution. Her real problem is her obsession with Irish parents who choose to enrich their children’s lives with an education in the language of their national heritage. It is she who would have heart failure if she were presented with a system that was even more like Finland’s.
Mark Reynolds,
Artane
Dublin 5
(English) Scoil Naithí Dublin school closed after ‘extensive’ fire damage
Eanáir 23, 2017
(English) Gaelscoil Éadain Mhóir hoping to boost school numbers as demand for places grows
Eanáir 23, 2017
Eighty children to miss out on Gaelscoil as waiting list soars
Eanáir 23, 2017
A Gaelscoil in Co Kildare will be unable to provide school places for almost 80 children next September, due to huge numbers enrolling at the school.
Scoil Ui Riada in Kilcock, Co Kildare, has approximately 56 places for next September; however, 52 of those places have already been reserved by siblings of current pupils.
This leaves just four places for new families in the school, as the waiting list hits 130 children. The school has been oversubscribed since 2013, with parents fighting each year for extra places.
In previous years, the school has been granted extra places to accommodate as many children as possible.
However, this year the Department of Education and the school’s patron, the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, are insisting that there should only be two streams rather than three. There are four other schools in the area for families to choose from, but parents are adamant that they should have the right to educate their children through the Irish language.
Brendan Shalvey has had his daughter on the waiting list to attend Scoil Ui Riada since she was nine months old but fears that she will not get a place in September.
“It turns out that there are people who have been there from about three months old.
“We want Irish to survive, we want Irish to thrive and we want it to be a living language.”
Parents’ Committee member Eimear de Faoite says the fight for extra places at the school is lasting from spring to September each year. “At this stage, there is a precedent that parents here wish for their children to be educated through Gaeilge,” she added.
Seamus O Muirithe, principal of Scoil Ui Riada, told the Sunday Independent that he supported the parents.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, we are bound by other decisions made by the Department of Education.
”These decisions do not allow us to give parents what they would like in relation to education through the medium of Irish.”
The school’s patron, Bishop Denis Nulty, declined to comment. Last week, Minister for Education Richard Bruton revealed that he intends to tackle school admission policies that give preference to Catholic children. The changes will prevent Catholic schools from exclusively selecting children who have been baptised for admission.
Meanwhile, the Education (Admissions to School) Bill is currently making its way through the Oireachtas.
The bill will mean that waiting lists for schools will be banned, which is intended to alleviate pressure on parents with children attending oversubscribed schools.
(English) Minister Bruton sets out plans to reform the school admission system in relation to religion
Eanáir 16, 2017
Bruton to announce school admission reform options
Eanáir 16, 2017
Possible options to reform school admissions to limit or remove the role that a child’s religion plays in the process will be announced today by the Minister for Education.
Richard Bruton will outline four options and announce a consultation process on the issue.
Highlights of his speech, to be delivered at a seminar later today, were sent to education journalists.
Mr Bruton says he believes it is unfair that publicly-funded religious schools can give preference to children of their own religion who might live some distance away, ahead of other children who live close by.
The Minister says while 96% of primary schools here are Christian – the vast majority Catholic – over a third of couples getting married here are choosing civil non-religious ceremonies.
The options include allowing schools to favour children of their own religion only when those children live within the school’s catchment area, or when that school is their nearest one.
A third option is the introduction of quotas, allowing preference on religious grounds for a limited proportion of places.
The fourth is an outright ban on using religion as a factor in admissions.
Under this last option, the Minister says, religious schools could require parents or students to indicate support for the school’s religious ethos.
Mr Bruton will say there is a most important need to avoid possible impacts on the wishes of minority religions – such as Protestants – to run schools in accordance with their ethos and admit children from their communities.
Other possible consequences, he says, are breaches of the constitution, or the creation of so-called ‘postcode lotteries’ where schools in less advantaged areas could suffer.
The Minister says he will be commencing a process of consultation, and is interested in hearing the views of groups who are affected, as well as members of the public.
Mr Bruton will say the desire of religious parents to educate their children in their faith is welcome and should be respected.
But he says that non-religious parents or parents of minority religions should not be unfairly disadvantaged.
The Minister says while this unfairness must be addressed, he believes that there is “no easy fix” to what he calls a “highly complex and contested area”.
He will deliver his speech later at a seminar organised by Equate, an organisation that is campaigning for equal access to publicly-funded schools for all children.
Atheist Ireland said three of the options “would just fine-tune the religious discrimination in access, and indeed would result in some Catholic families being discriminated against.”
Fianna Fáil education spokesperson Thomas Byrne has said the Minister was “floating ideas” and not “taking any real action”.
He added that the Oireachtas Education Committee is “in the middle of carrying out a consultation on this issue and has held hearings before Christmas and will have further hearings shortly. Then it is envisaged that we will legislate.”
http://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0116/845185-school-admissions-plan/
