Educate Together to open seven schools
March 7, 2012
EDUCATE TOGETHER has been named as patron of seven new primary schools by Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn.
The decision confirms the multidenominational group’s status as the fastest growing patron in Irish education.
In a further reflection of changing trends, there was no school under the patronage of the Catholic Church among the primary schools announced yesterday.
The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference said the church did not apply for patronage of the new schools as there was already adequate Catholic provision in the relevant areas. The bishops added that they welcomed “additional forms of patronage where there was parental demand for such”.
Educate Together will run new schools in Stepaside, Ballinteer, and Tallaght West in Dublin, and in Kildare town and Ashbourne, Co Meath; all of them will open later this year.
It will also be patron of schools in Firhouse/Oldbawn and Carpenterstown in Dublin and at Douglas/Rochestown in Cork which will open next year.
In all, Educate Together will be patron of five of the seven new primary schools opening this year.
Since its first school opened in 1978, Educate Together has grown to become the main provider of multidenominational primary education. The group opened 19 schools in the last five years; 12 in 2008 alone. There is are 60 Educate Together primary schools in the Republic; this compares with over 3,000 under the control of the Catholic Church.
Educate Together also plans to provide schools at second level, and earlier this year Mr Quinn officially recognised the group as a second-level patron.
Mr Quinn said: “The decisions taken by me on patronage of the new schools place a particular emphasis on providing for demonstrated parental demand for plurality and diversity of patronage. These new schools will optimise parental choice and strengthen diversity of provision.”
It was also announced yesterday that An Foras Pátrúnachta will run schools in west Dublin at Mulhuddart, Firhouse/Oldbawn and Stepaside.
Mr Quinn has also agreed to establish community national schools, run by the local VECs, in Fortunestown, Tallaght West and Lucan in Dublin and in Mallow, Co Cork. The Minister will publish a report on the operation of community national schools in the coming weeks.
Separately yesterday, Mr Quinn said Ireland had been shaken out of its “complacency” and the view that it had “the best education system in the world” by an OECD study that showed educational outcomes had declined in a decade.
He was speaking in Dublin to mark the publication, by children’s charity Barnardos, of the book Early Literacy and Numeracy Matters by Dr Geraldine French.
The OECD Pisa education rankings in literacy and maths published in December 2010 showed Ireland had slipped from fifth to 17th place in reading levels since 2000.
Mr Quinn – then in opposition – said that what had “shattered and angered” him most was that, after 30 years and with increasing resources put into education, reading outcomes, particularly for a cohort of working-class boys, had deteriorated.
IRISH TIMES
Gríosaíonn an tAire Quinn scoileanna chun bheith gafa le Seachtain na Gaeilge
March 7, 2012
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., encouraged schools and pupils to get involved in Seachtain na Gaeilge by organising events and activities which promote Irish language and culture.
The Minister also encouraged schools to get involved in Rith 2012. This is a national festival that runs every second year. It promotes Irish language and culture though sport in the form of a relay run that travels around Ireland with a message of support for the Irish language from the President. Significant numbers of schools and clubs participate in Rith where they see the Irish language outside of the classroom and enjoy the benefits of running and sport.
“I would encourage schools and students to get involved in these activities which encourage students to speak Irish in a fun and spontaneous environment,” said Minister Quinn.
Seachtain na Gaeilge and Rith present a real opportunity for students to use Irish in a natural way in their daily lives. These initiatives are a welcome support to the moves to place a much greater emphasis on Irish as a spoken language in schools.
Seachtain na Gaeilge runs from the 5th to 17th March 2012 (www.snag.ie). Rith 2012 runs from the 8th to 17th March 2012 (www.rith.ie).
EDUCATION.IE
Ag Lorg Clann le Gaeilge do Chlár Teilifíse
March 6, 2012
Ceolchoirm Mhór na Féile Pádraig
March 6, 2012
Lá den scoth – Comórtas Tras-Tíre 2012
March 6, 2012
Teacher’s Pet
March 6, 2012
Good news for small schools?
The forthcoming referendum on what has been called the “Austerity Treaty” could be good news for small schools and others worried about education cuts. Any final decision on the future of these schools is likely to be delayed until after the summer referendum.
And that’s the only factor working to delay decision-making in education.
Minister Ruairí Quinn would like to publish Prof John Coolahan’s report on the forum on school patronage – but the Government is reluctant to pick another fight with the Catholic church after that row about the Vatican embassy.
Quinn is also due to publish new rules on school admissions. Will this also be delayed for fear of antagonising people in the run-up to the referendum?
New obstacles for DEIS schools?
There is growing unease among Labour backbenchers about the plan which would force all trainee primary teachers to have higher level maths – as well as higher level Irish – in their Leaving Cert results.
There are some grumbles that these tough entry requirements will make it even more difficult for kids from disadvantaged schools to enter teaching. Our view? The whole issue needs revisiting. Insisting on higher-level maths and indeed Irish for those teaching young children makes for good PR – but it makes no practical sense. It’s unfair on pupils – who for all sorts of reasons – may not be up to honours Irish . And it’s unfair on pupils in many schools where higher-level maths is not always available.
And speaking of Irish
With oral Irish now accounting for 40 per cent of Leaving Cert marks, Raidió na Gaeltachta is rolling out a timely new series. Síle Ní Scanláin will present A Rá and the show will include a new radio soap-opera, An Baile Beag, based on teenage life and featuring young Connemara actors.
It is hoped that this will be a fun and creative way to help students with building vocabulary, correct use of tenses and grammar, without feeling like a lesson. Broadcast on Mondays at 10.15am, and rebroadcast on Saturdays at 11.30am. It’s also available on the RTÉ Radio Player.
IRISH TIMES
Irish language endangered by austerity measures
March 6, 2012
The vibrant Seachtain na Gaeilge festival runs nationally until March 17th, with tomorrow a Lá Gaeilge in the Dáil. At the same time, Irish language groups are campaigning against the effects of funding cuts on the language. So what is the state of the language and how might the current recession affect it?
Efforts to revive the language date from the founding by Douglas Hyde of the Gaelic League in 1893. Hyde’s view of the language as a vehicle for national identity led to the league becoming a mass movement and inspired many in the independence movement, including Michael Collins and Éamon de Valera.
Since independence, all governments have supported the language and, 90 years on, the evidence suggests these policies have had mixed results.
The main policy focus (perhaps to an unbalanced extent) has been the education system. In many ways, achievements here are disappointing compared to inputs. Despite the time spent between ages four and 18, it is shocking how few young people finish school able to speak Irish fluently. Such poor outcomes would be unacceptable in most subjects (the exceptions perhaps being other languages). Reasons for the poor outcomes include a traditional over-emphasis on grammar, a continuing lack of creativity in how the language is taught, and a strikingly high number of teachers who cannot themselves speak the language.
On the other hand, the work of the schools has led to the number of people who say they can speak Irish rising from 20 per cent of the population in the 1920s to more than 40 per cent today.
The 2006 census showed that 1.66 million people have an ability to speak Irish, with more than half a million people using Irish every day. This included more than 72,000 people who spoke Irish daily outside the education system.
As such, there has been some movement towards a bilingual society, although Ireland is clearly no Canada or Belgium. But with high-quality television and radio channels in Irish, print and online media, a lively cultural scene and a right for citizens to obtain State services through the language, there have been real achievements.
Opinion polls consistently show that strong public support for Irish (despite a minority who don’t seem to “get” the language) and the vibrant Gaelscoil movement, as well as growth in the use of Irish in Northern Ireland, represent strong sources of optimism. (Research suggests one in four parents would send their child to a Gaelscoil if available.)
While many languages around the world died in the 20th century, Irish is very much alive.
A crucial exception to this optimism is the decline in the use of Irish in Gaeltacht areas. This is primarily due to these communities being largely rural and remote (why the language survived in the first place), and so having the economic tide against them. While the value of the language in these areas is firstly to those who live there, who tap directly into a rich Gaelic heritage, these communities provide inspiration for all who speak Irish.
However, the sad truth is that we may be living through the last years of Irish as a community language in most Gaeltacht areas.
Drawing on all-party support, a 20-year strategy for the language was published in December 2010. It has two central targets: to increase the number in the State who use Irish daily outside the education system to 250,000 by 2030, and to increase the number of daily speakers in Gaeltacht areas by 25 per cent. The 250,000 figure represents 5-7 per cent of the expected 2030 population. Given general positive views on the language and the numbers learning Irish in Gaelscoileanna and other schools, this objective should be achievable, if there is a will to achieve it.
Unfortunately, the strategy entered the world in a time of austerity. So how is the Fine Gael/Labour Coalition performing on the language?
On the positive side, the recent Gaeltacht Bill suggests commitment to the strategy. As well as focusing on the urgent challenges facing Gaeltacht areas in keeping the language alive, an innovative part of the Bill will allow any area where large numberS of Irish language speakers live or work to become a “Gaeltacht network” (groups in both Clondalkin and Co Clare are already looking at this). New “Gaeltacht” areas, with a range of outlets for people to use Irish, could generate local pride and create virtuous circles of language visibility and use.
On the other hand, the national austerity is having detrimental effects and particularly negative decisions include:
The proposal to merge the Office of the Irish Language Commissioner with the Office of the Ombudsman, which will lead to almost no savings, but may well affect the rights of Irish speakers;
The cutting of grants to trainee teachers to spend time in the Gaeltacht. This is particularly illogical as trainee teachers need more and not less time in the Gaeltacht;
Reduced funding for small Gaeltacht schools.
The risk is that spending cuts from different Government departments could, taken together, undermine the “horizontal” Government objective of supporting the language.
There is an urgent need for the Cabinet committee on the Irish language to take a “joined-up” view to ensure the 20-year strategy is given high-level leadership and oversight.
Otherwise, personal support from Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore may not prevent the recession doing considerable damage to Irish.
Indeed, drawing on the ideas of Douglas Hyde, the deeper European integration being driven by the economic crisis suggests a need for new ways to assert national identity. In this context, there is now an opportunity for the language to become part of a wider national rejuvenation, a confident assertion of who we are in an integrated global economy.
Bainigí sult as imeachtaí Seachtain na Gaeilge!
Finbar McDonnell is a public policy analyst and an Irish language speaker.
IRISH TIMES
School cuts protest planned following Glenties meeting
March 6, 2012
A protest march is planned for Letterkenny Saturday March 10th against education cuts, as decided at a meeting held in Glenties last night.
Details are yet to be confirmed but many people are expected to turn up as anger flares up again with the announcement of a referendum on the EU fiscal treaty.
Arranmore priest Father John Joe Duffy, a campaigner against school cuts, said there was a large crowd at the meeting in Glenties last night and that there was “great anger” at what the government plans for small schools and schools across the board.
It’s understood some parents at the meeting voiced their belief that the EU fiscal treaty referendum could be used as a bargaining tool to get their concerns addressed.
So far the debate on the treaty has seen many groups with their specific concerns propose this idea.
However, Donegal Now has learned that government ministers are now refusing to attend meetings with concerned parents.
Fr Duffy confirmed this and says cuts will “affect all schools.”
It is understood at least 24 teaching posts will be lost in Donegal over the next three years as pupil-teacher ratios in small schools are increased. The number of pupils in the classroom will increase. Also, if there are not enough pupils in a school to meet the new ratios, they face closure, which will negatively impact rural Ireland, as voiced by Fr Duffy.
The Taoiseach Enda Kenny signaled yesterday that he would not entertain the idea of a link between the fiscal treaty referendum and obligations to meet Anglo Irish debt payments.
He signed the fiscal treaty this morning, the signature of which is subject to the referendum. The treaty mandates automatic corrections of budget gaps that stray from targets due to take effect on January 1st 2013.
DONEGAL NOW
Plean Gníomhaíochta don Ghaeilge i gCorcaigh
March 6, 2012
Áiseanna d’fhoghlaim agus do theagasc trí Ghaeilge
March 6, 2012
