Patronage change sought in surveys
December 12, 2012
The Department of Education is set to press ahead with the process of handing over Catholic-run schools to other patron bodies after the results of parent surveys were published today.
The Department insists the surveys show strong parental demand for a greater choice of patron.
But the very low turnout in some areas – less than 40 per cent- will be seized on by critics as evidence the public is not greatly exercised about changes to school patronage.
The surveys were conducted on a pilot basis in five areas Arklow, Castlebar, Tramore, Trim and Whitehall. Shortly , they will be rolled out in 44 other areas which have been identified as those where the Catholic church may be over represented.
In the five areas, the multi-denominational group Educate Together emerged as the first choice of alternative patron. Each of the five areas already has an existing Gaelscoil, which is capable of accommodating the demand expressed for Irish language medium schools.
“Parents have been given a voice through this survey process to express a preference for the types of schools they want to send their children to. While many are happy with the schools already available in their area, there is a clear demand from others for greater choice,” Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said.
“I will now ask the main patron in each area, the Catholic Bishop or Archbishop, to consider the re-configuration options open to him which would allow sufficient school accommodation to be made available to facilitate this choice.”
Mr Quinn is requesting each of the patrons to consult with their local school communities.
The Department is requesting an interim response in three months and a final response in six months.
Mr Quinn has also announced that the survey will be rolled out to further areas in early January. “Parents from the other towns identified following the Forum Report on Patronage will be able to express their views on the choice of primary schools in their towns via the survey from the 9th of January for one month.”
The report published today outlines in detail the result of the surveys carried out over three weeks, beginning in late October.
Parents of pre-school and primary school children were asked to take part in a survey, with almost 99 per cent doing so online, to determine if there is demand for a wider choice of patron in their locality.
The aim of the survey was to establish the level of parental demand for a wider choice of patronage in primary schools in the areas.
Each town has a relatively stable population and therefore little prospect of a new school opening there in coming years. A total of 1,788 valid survey responses were received. These represented 3,459 children in the five areas.
The number of parents who supported a wider choice of patron ranged from 37 per cent to 50 per cent of respondents in the five areas. The percentage of parents who said they would send their children to an alternative school patron if available ranged from 25 per cent to 35 per cent. While those who did not want to see more choice ranged from 35 per cent to 44 per cent of respondents.
On their preference for the English or Irish language school medium, 70 per cent to almost 80 per cent of respondents chose English language schools, while the preference for instruction in the Irish language ranged from almost 10 per cent to 21 per cent.
Of those parents seeking wider choice of patron, Educate Together was the first preference of 56 per cent to 76 per cent of parents, An Forás Pátrúnachta was the first choice for between 6 per cent to 26 per cent of parents and the VECs ranged from 10 per cent to 18 per cent.
Number of responses in the five pilot areas :
* Arklow: 384 responses, representing 706 of the 1,965 pupils in primary schools in the area.
*Castlebar: 465 responses, representing 932 of the 2,261 pupils in the area.
*Tramore: 276 responses , representing 563 of the 1,644 pupils in the area.
*Trim: 300 responses, representing 588 of the 1,540 pupils in the area.
*Whitehall: 546 responses, representing 987 of the 2,449 pupils in the area.
Éileamh ar éagsulacht i mbunscoileanna na tíre
December 12, 2012
Online debate over Education Minister’s stance on Irish language
December 12, 2012
Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn today has said that the amount of time spent on the teaching of Irish and religion in primary schools is an issue of concern.
The statement has prompted debate online once again over the status of the Irish language in the education system with many Irish language speakers responding on Facebook and Twitter to the remarks.
According to a report published on the Irish Examiner and Breaking News websites today, the Minister is quoted as saying “the official time allocation for religion and Irish is high relative to other subjects. Am I personally concerned by that? Yes I am. But this is a choice that parents and teachers and the patrons of schools have to make.”
A recent international study has found that while Ireland’s level of reading, maths and science skills is above average, the country’s schools failed to make it on to the list of top schools.
The subject became a hot topic during the 2011 general election when the Labour Party, among others, came out against Fine Gael’s proposal to remove Irish as a core Leaving Certificate subject, a proposal which was later abandoned.
Minister Ruairí Quinn has said that he believes too much time is spent on the teaching of Irish and Religion, and he has expressed the same views since becoming Minister for Education. The Minister raised the question of time spent on Irish and religion in April and claimed at the time that the subject would need to be reconsidered id literacy and numeracy skills are to improve.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
We’re failing to prepare pupils for jobs of the future
December 12, 2012
IRISH 10-year-olds have been outperformed in science and maths in international tests, prompting new concerns about how well the education system is equipping students for jobs of the future.
Ireland ranked 10th out of 45 in reading, 17th out of 50 in maths and 22nd out of 50 in science in the world’s largest educational assessments at primary school level.
Irish pupils scored above average in all three areas – but while they were among the best in reading, they fell significantly behind many top-performing countries in maths and science.
Ireland has scored no better at science or maths than when similar tests were carried out in 1995 – when science wasn’t even on the primary curriculum.
Tony Donohoe, head of education policy with employers’ organisation IBEC, expressed concern at Ireland’s science ranking. He said: “Our performance could, at best, be described as average and given our aspirations to be a knowledge-based economy, average is not good enough.”
Mr Donohoe said Ireland had a particular interest in developing a pipeline of science and technology skills to maintain and develop competitiveness.
One of the issues highlighted in the reports is the amount of teaching time devoted to the different subjects in primary schools. Mr Donohoe noted that Irish pupils spent 25pc less time learning science than the survey average, and significantly less time than the top countries. Ireland is close to the bottom of the league in terms of tuition time for science, at the lower end of the scale for maths, and at the high end for reading.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn welcomed the aboveaverage performance by Irish pupils in all three tests, but added: “We cannot be complacent. Clearly, we need to improve our teaching of mathematics and science at all levels.”
Mr Quinn said that he would like to see more time devoted to science and maths in schools, rather than Irish and religion. He noted that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) was currently conducting a review of time spent teaching all subjects at primary level and said he was awaiting the outcome with interest.
The studies, known as TIMSS (maths and science) and PIRLS (reading) were carried out among about 300,000 pupils internationally – including about 4,500 in Ireland in spring 2011. Since then, teaching time for maths and reading has been increased in primary schools under the new Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.
While primary pupils spend an hour a week on science, Department of Education rules require them to spend two-and-a-half hours a week on religion. Other studies have shown that Irish primary pupils spend only 4pc of their class time on science – half the international average of 8pc. By comparison, primary schools devote 10pc of teaching time to religion, two-and-a-half times more than the international average of 4pc.
Irish National Teachers’ Organisation general secretary Sheila Nunan said having increased the time allocated to maths in the curriculum “we now need to look at doing the same for science”.
She said that aspects of science were relatively new in Irish primary schools and outcomes were relatively good despite the fact that most teachers did not have a background in chemistry and physics in Leaving Cert. “Government needs to support ongoing professional development for teachers in this area. Funding must also be found for proper science equipment to support inquiry and experiment in the classroom.”
Irish Primary Principals Network director Sean Cottrell said the findings were “encouraging, but should be treated as a call to action rather than just a reason to rest on our laurels”.
Reduced
Five countries performed significantly better than Ireland in reading: Hong Kong, Finland, Singapore, the Russian Federation and Northern Ireland.
In maths, Ireland was significantly below countries such as Singapore, Korea, Japan, Northern Ireland, Finland, England and the US. In science, Irish students were significantly below Korea, Singapore, Finland, Japan, the US, Sweden and England.
Ireland has, however, reduced the proportion of really weak pupils in reading and maths, attributed to extra resources put into schools to support students suffering a disadvantage.
www.independent.ie
Hope of ‘world-class system’ some way off
December 12, 2012
The time allocated to maths and science in primary schools may have to increase
In absolute terms, Ireland has performed well in the new international rankings. Irish children in fourth class are performing at above average levels in literacy, maths and science.
The Irish primary education system is performing reasonably well in reading and Irish students are performing at a high level. But when set against the lofty ambitions set for it by government, the performance is less impressive.
The Irish education system is good but still something less than the “world-class system” regularly trumpeted by successive ministers for education. To coin a term: we are good, but not great.
One awkward fact emerges from the reports – Ireland is not ranked among the top performers in reading, maths or science. Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn – who has criticised the complacency about overall standards in the education system – said yesterday that “pupils in a number of other countries are performing significantly above the performance of Irish students’’ .
Overall plan
What’s the problem on maths and science? When in opposition Quinn was in no doubt. Taken together, the teaching of religion and Irish absorbed more than 20 per cent of teaching time at primary level. Essentially, he made the case for recasting the day in primary schools with a focus on maths and science .
As Minister , Quinn is actively pursuing the issue. As part of his overall plan to boost literacy and numeracy, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has been asked to examine the time dedicated to each subject in the primary school curriculum.
At present only 4 per cent of all curriculum time is allocated to science in primary schools, the second lowest in the developed world. Time allocated to maths (12 per cent) and science is also well below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average (16 per cent and 8 per cent respectively).
Time allocated
Unsurprisingly, the report shows a direct correlation between the time allocated to a subject and student performance in that subject.
Ireland allocates a high proportion of teaching time to reading ( in both English and Irish) and the results are encouraging. But results are less impressive in maths and science, where less time is allocated.
Yesterday, Quinn hinted he was still impatient for change. “The official time allocation for religion and Irish is high relative to other subjects.
“Am I personally concerned by that? Yes I am. But this is a choice that parents and teachers and the patrons of schools have to make.”
www.irishtimes.com
Work on gaelscoil to begin next year
December 11, 2012
The controversial building of a new school on playing fields on Cork’s northside is to go ahead as part of next year’s €370m schools capital programme.
Gaelscoil an Ghoirt Álainn is one of 50 new buildings or extensions which Education Minister Ruairi Quinn announced will go to construction in 2013. Most have already been flagged to go ahead next year as part of a five-year school building programme announced in March.
But the location of the school on part of the 11-acre Tank Field in Mayfield was the subject of potential obstacles at the time, after An Bord Pleanála had overturned an earlier refusal of permission in a vote of Cork City Council members.
Some local residents took a court challenge in September against what they said would be the loss of a right of way through the playing fields because of the project, and subsequent arrangements between the council and the local GAA club which uses the field.
However, Cork Circuit Court rejected their case in October and Mr Quinn has confirmed work on the 16-classroom school should begin next year.
The news brought joy to pupils, parents, and staff of the school, which has operated from prefabs on the grounds of Brian Dillons GAA Club next to the Tank Field for most of its life.
“Gaelscoil an Ghoirt Álainn has been in operation for almost 20 years now and finally we can begin to imagine life in a proper school building with proper facilities for our children,” said principal Deaglán Ó Deargáin and board chair Colm Henry.
“We look forward to progressing with the development of a new school suitable for the education of our children and one which will benefit the whole community.”
Six projects have been brought forward to begin work next year, including an extension to Newpark Comprehensive in Blackrock, Co Dublin, on which construction was not scheduled to begin until at least 2015 according to last March’s list.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said some projects may have progressed if they got through planning faster than anticipated, or if projected student numbers in an area have increased significantly.
The projects include schools being established in the next few years to cater for rising urban populations. Mr Quinn said almost 21,000 of the 25,000 student places to be provided are in extensions or new schools, with the remainder replacing temporary or unsuitable accommodation.
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation said meeting the needs of a rising young population is welcome, but the Government had failed in its responsibility to ensure existing schools are maintained by the withdrawal of grants for minor works.
General secretary Sheila Nunan said the department should ringfence 7.5% of all future capital funding for maintenance of existing school buildings.
Another 53 major school projects were occupied or completed this year and the larger projects listed yesterday will account for €240m of the €370m capital investment in schools.
www.irishexaminer.com
Survey to focus on demand for schooling across the border
December 11, 2012
Thousands of families in border counties will be surveyed before Christmas on demand for the option of sending their children to school in Northern Ireland.
About 12,000 families in the North were asked to complete a similar survey recently, and the Department of Education will issue its questionnaire here in the coming days.
It is understood that more than 500 children cross the border to go to school every day, most of them travelling north from the Republic.
The survey of demand for more cross-border schooling opportunities was ordered by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn and his northern counterpart, John O’Dowd, in February, as reported at the time by the Irish Examiner.
The North’s department of education sent details to 12,000 homes within 12 miles (19km) of the border in late October. Mr Quinn’s officials have drawn up their own online version, with the families of about 9,000 pupils being notified through their schools.
Parents of children in junior infants and sixth class (or their equivalents) at primary schools six miles either side of the border, and those in first year of secondary schools within 12 miles of the border, are being surveyed.
Among the issues asked about are levels of awareness of the options for cross-border schooling, and the reasons why parents would or would not be interested in having their children educated in the other country.
Families can cite a range of issues they might see as obstacles to doing so, such as lack of places or transport, the different curriculum, costs of books and materials, separating children from friends, or inconvenience for work or child-minding arrangements.
The aim is also to establish parental preferences for school types, under headings such as religious ethos, gender mix, and language of instruction.
The results will inform future joint policy by both governments to facilitate further supports, mainly on issues like planning for school buildings based on projected enrolment growth that might arise from more cross-border education, and transport.
The outcomes are due to be discussed by Mr Quinn and Mr O’Dowd at the North-South Ministerial Council meeting in late Feb 2013. The North’s department of education is analysing responses to its survey, and said it would not release further details before the ministers are briefed.
“The Department of Education and Skills in the south has yet to complete its element of the survey.
“A full report on the information gathered by the whole survey is to be submitted to the North- South Ministerial Council early next year,” said a spokesman.
www.irishexaminer.com
Féile Leabhar na Nollag
December 11, 2012
Gaeloideachas
December 10, 2012
‘Education is not a burden, but ignorance is a huge burden.’
But what is education? It is a process through which a child learns to live happily, getting physical, cultural and spiritual benefit from what he finds around him.
At this time of year, parents are thinking about the kind of education they would like their children to have. The educational system should prepare a child for a world that is smaller, for a world that is international, for a world in which people travel much more. Skills are required now that were not so important a few years ago.
Everyone agrees that languages are very important nowadays. In this regard, children in Derry and Inis Eoghain have the opportunity of getting a good start in their education and achieve fluency in two languages within a few years.
There are three all-Irish schools in Derry, which also have nurseries: Bunscoil Cholmcille, Gaelscoil Éadain Mhóir and Gaelscoil na Daróige. You have Gaelscoil cois Feabhail in Moville; there is a Gaelscoil in Buncrana and there is Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin in Letterkenny. There are Gaelscoileanna in Limavady and Dungiven, and other Irish medium schools in Strabane, Omagh, Magherafelt, and Maghera. And there is an Irish nursery in Carndonagh.
Two languages give a child confidence, they open his/her mind, and he/she enjoys what is achieved. You can start another language in secondary school, but often that is too late. A child can be taught a small amount of another language in primary school through the mother tongue. But if children learn a second language through ‘immersion education’, they become fluent early and naturally. They go from one language to another without thinking. They get interested in other languages.
Education through Irish has made great progress in recent years: it is now available in every county in Ireland. There are around 50 secondary schools and around 200 primary schools outside the Gaeltacht where children are taught through Irish. Local parents should think seriously about an educational system which is experiencing enormous growth throughout the country.
If you are interested in education through Irish, make an appointment with your local Gaelscoil where the staff will be more than happy to answer any questions.
www.derryjournal.com
300 pacáiste eolais iarrtha ag tuismitheoirí
December 10, 2012
