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Deiseanna do Ghaeilgeoirí agus níos mó le teacht

March 30, 2011

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

Deiseanna oibre le Gaeilge pléite i gCeatharlach

March 29, 2011

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GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. welcomes the Minister for Education & Skills’ announcement that he is to establish a Forum on Patronage and Pluralism

March 29, 2011

GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. welcomes the Minister for Education & Skills’ announcement that he is to establish a Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector. We hope that this forum will give us an opportunity to tackle the issues in relation to the demand and current provision of Irish-medium education.  We are heartened that the statement specifically mentions Irish-medium education and it is important to note that ‘gaelscoil’ refers only to the linguistic ethos of the school, as Irish-medium schools cater for diversity with regard to religious ethos.
GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. is the national coordinating body for Irish-medium schools at primary and post-primary level. It provides assistance and support to parents and local communities who wish to found a school and it supports existing Irish-medium schools in their development.

Fóram do Phátrúnacht agus Iolrachas le bunú

March 29, 2011

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Ní bheidh an Roinn Oideachais ag tarraingt siar ar cheist an chóimheasa- Quinn

March 29, 2011

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Dhá Ghaelscoil i measc na gcúig bhunscoil nua atá faofa ag an Roinn

March 29, 2011

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

Cuairt Scoile – Bun Scoil Cholmcille agus Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin

March 28, 2011

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Child not read to at bedtime is ‘abused’, says Quinn

March 28, 2011

A CHILD not read to when going to bed at night was an abused child, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn told the Dáil.

“If a home does not cherish literacy, it is a form of abuse,” he said. Mr Quinn said literacy started in the home. “By the time a four-year-old arrives in junior infants, outcomes in literacy have already been significantly determined by the commitment of parents, no matter what class or socio-economic group,2 he added. The Minister said he had raised concerns in the past about the State’s “wonderful” education system not delivering. He added that party colleague Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, a primary school principal in Dublin’s inner city, was the first to highlight the need for a right-to-read programme.

“I will be looking at that not to scapegoat teachers or schools, because we are all failing, as parents, society and families, and we must find a way collectively to deal with the issue,”said Mr Quinn. Mr Quinn said a middle-class child from a committed family arrived in school at four years of age with a vocabulary that was twice that of a child from a disadvantaged family. A working-class boy who left school at 15 years of age, unable to read or write, was destined for a future of intermittent employment and, possibly, crime. He said the electronic media had reduced the necessity for reading as a form of entertainment. He intended, he said, to devolve back to school principals more autonomy and independence to do what they considered to be best. “It is wrong that we have 3,200 primary schools, stretching from the Aran Islands to the inner city of Dublin, or disadvantaged rural areas in Border counties, with a one-size-fits-all curriculum and little discretion for the principal.”

The Minister said a key commitment of the programme for government was the development and implementation of a national literacy strategy, which included the production of action plans by schools, with school-level targets linked to national targets. There had been more than 460 written submissions to a public consultation process on a draft national strategy on literacy and numeracy covering the period up to 2020, he said. In parallel, focused consultation meetings were being held with groups of key stakeholders with a deadline of early May. “Implementation will require a sustained commitment from schools and other stakeholders and I want to ensure their input is considered in finalising the strategy.” Mr Quinn said he intended that the literacy and numeracy skills of students would be improved very significantly so that the decline of recent years could be reversed and Irish students would again be among the best-performing groups internationally.

Brendan Smith (FF) said the Minister might have pre-empted him when he said a revision of the curriculum was necessary to ensure literacy and numeracy skills were adequate for children in primary schools. Seán Crowe (SF) said a family with a literacy problem would not have any books or magazines in the house, so if a parent went back to education and was supported, the children’s literacy standard would increase. Mr Quinn told Peadar Tóibín (SF) that the status of Irish as a compulsory examination subject would remain.

The Irish Times – Michael O’Regan

Time to drop Irish as core subject

March 28, 2011

I AM writing concerning the discussion of making Irish an optional subject for the Leaving Certificate.

As a second-year student, I study Irish in school every day, and find it a chore to have to learn the extensive amount of grammar that accompanies it. The emphasis is never on speaking the language and the teachers seem reluctant to encourage this. The recent introduction of an oral exam for the Junior Cert, is an attempt to try and change this attitude. I don’t think this will have the desired effect, unless the monotonous teaching methods are changed. I think it is time to drop Irish as a core subject, and feel it is very unfair to have it as a requirement for college entry. The truth is, after 14 years of learning Irish in school, the majority of students leave unable to hold a basic conversation. While I think it is time to move on, I recognise that the patriotic fluent Irish speakers will most likely win the day.
Ross Watchorn
Lucan
Co Dublin

Irish Examiner – Litir chuig an Eagarthóir

Ag triall ar chraobhchomórtas Siansa Gael Linn sa Cheoláras Náisiúnta!

March 28, 2011

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