Stuck in Lá Groundhog?
March 7, 2012
A chara,
The fact that Ann Marie Hourihane does not encounter Irish as a living language does not mean that the language is “non-spoken” (Opinion, March 5th).
There is a significant minority of Irish people who use Irish on an everyday basis, both inside and outside the Gaeltacht, as evidenced by the success of TG4 and the demand for Irish language education. The working-class community of Cabra in central Dublin has established in recent years a thriving pre-school, primary and secondary school, through the medium of Irish, where the children continue to improve their educational standards. There are hundreds of similar projects throughout the country, which Ms Hourihane should research before labelling it “a charade”.
Her words are highly insulting for the thousands of children who use Irish as an everyday tongue, which their parents believe is central to their self-identity and self- esteem.
– Is mise,
SEAN Ó DONAILE,
Priomhoide,
Gaelscoil Bharra,
Cabrach, Baile Átha Cliath 7.
IRISH TIMES
Clár Tacaíochta Teaghlaigh nua le fógairt ag McGinley
March 7, 2012
Good sport Kenny is spreading the word about Seachtain na Gaeilge festival
March 7, 2012
TAOISEACH Enda Kenny yesterday spread the word that the Irish language is alive and well at the launch of Seachtain na Gaeilge 2012.
He showed off his hurling skills to Noinin Ni Mhurchu (5), from Scoil Bharra in Cabra, to mark the start of the two-week festival.
Running up to and including St Patrick’s Day, the festival aims to promote our national tongue at home and abroad.
Now in its 110th year, a primary objective of the festival is that those with even just a ‘cupla focal’ have the courage to speak up.
For the first time, many politicians may find themselves lost for words as an Irish language ‘La Gaeilge’ will take place today in the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Order of Business and Leader’s Questions will all be conducted through Irish.
IRISH INDEPENDENT
Department of Education announces four new gaelscoileanna opening in 2012 and 2013
March 7, 2012
“Of the 16 new primary schools to open around the country in 2012 and 2013, we welcome the announcement by the Minister of Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, TD that four of them are to be gaelscoileanna”, said the president of GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. Máirín Ní Chéileachair. “This is a positive decision that ensures that Irish-medium education will be available as a choice for pupils whose parents have been campaigning diligently on their behalf. This progress confirms the significant demand from the public for Irish-medium education and the continuing growth, development and demand for gaelscoileanna.”
The new gaelscoileanna are to be established in the following areas:
- Mulhuddart, Dublin 15. Gaelscoil an Chuilinn will open in September 2012 *See note below on how to register your child for this new school.
- Firhouse/Oldbawn, September 2013
- Stepaside, Dublin 18, September 2013
The three schools listed above will be under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta.
A new gaelscoil will also open in Knocknacarra, Galway in September 2013, though the patronage of the school is yet to be decided. The new system put in place by the Department of Education states that the Department alone will identify the areas in which new schools are to be established, making the process far less democratic than before. In this new recognition process, applications for gaelscoileanna in other areas of rapid population growth were rejected, particularly affecting Kildare, where the closest gaelscoil is unable to cater for the overwhelming demand for Irish-medium education. The Department has given limited recognition to this demand, and there is hope that a gaelscoil might be established there in 2014.
CEO of GAELSCOILEANNA TEO., Bláthnaid Ní Ghréacháin said that “while we recognise that today’s announcement is a positive reflection of the hard work done by the local founding committees and the cooperation of all the partners in the process, there are problems with the system in that it does not allow for the demand that exists in areas outside of those identified by the Department, particularly those areas where the population is not on the increase. This leaves communities without access to their preferred type of education for their children. This makes it difficult for us to inspire and encourage communities to engage with the process, when there is no certain outcome for them. We firmly believe that community choice should be central to the process, and as an organisation we will continue to support all gaelscoileanna and those who wish to establish new schools.”
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.
*Parents can register their children for September 2012 in Gaelscoil an Chuilinn in Mulhuddart by calling 086 3236187 or emailing gaelscoilanchuilinn@gmail.com.
Further information:
Bláthnaid Ní Ghréacháin, CEO, GAELSCOILEANNA TEO.
Phone: 01 8535195 Email: blathnaid@gaelscoileanna.ie
Máirín Ní Chéileachair, President, GAELSCOILEANNA TEO.
Phone: 01 6290667 Email: mairinnicheileachair@gmail.com
Forbairt na Matamaitice sa Chóras Tumoideachais – Seimineár Inseirbhíse
March 7, 2012
Minister Quinn announces patronage of new Primary schools being established in 2012 and 2013
March 7, 2012
The Minister for Education & Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., today announced his decisions on the patronage of new primary schools to be established in 2012 and 2013.
This is the culmination of the process which began in June 2011 when the Minister announced that 20 new primary schools are to be established up to 2015 across a number of locations to cater for increasing pupil numbers.
At that time the Minister also announced new criteria and arrangements for the recognition of the new schools. The arrangements included the establishment of a New Schools Establishment Group, an independent advisory group, to advise the Minister on the patronage of the new schools following its consideration of a report prepared by Department officials. The New Schools Establishment Group reported to the Minister last week.
Announcing the patronage of the new schools, Minister 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 in the areas in which they are to be established.”
Patrons were asked to provide evidence of parental demand when making an application for a new school. In addition, the criteria used in deciding on patronage included how the proposed schools under the respective patrons would provide for extending or strengthening diversity of provision in each area, having regard to the views of parents.
In assessing the applications received in all cases, all of the published criteria as set out were considered, including the extent of diversity in existing schools and the extent of diversity that would be provided by the new school or schools. This was considered in conjunction with the level of parental demand for each of the patron applicants.
The Minister expressed his thanks to the members of the New Schools Establishment Group for their valuable input to the process. Minister Quinn said “I initiated the revised system for the establishment of new schools and the appointment of the school patron so that it would be an objective and transparent process. The role of the New Schools Establishment Group is critical to achieving these aims and I want to thank them for their work in this area.”
Department officials will shortly contact each of the patron bodies in regard to the logistics of the establishment of these new schools.
Seven new primary schools will open in September 2012. Of these, five will be under the patronage of Educate Together (ET), one will be under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta and the seventh will be a Community National School which will be under VEC patronage when enabling legislation is passed.
Minister Quinn accepted the recommendations of the Group in all cases with the exception of Kildare and Mallow. He made a change regarding the patronage proposed for the new schools in Kildare and Mallow where the level of parental demand demonstrated by each of the patrons was practically identical. Minister Quinn has approved Educate Together as patron of the new school in Kildare and he has approved Co. Cork VEC as patron of the new school in Mallow (rather than the VEC in Kildare and Educate Together in Mallow as had been recommended). County Kildare already has a community national school under Kildare VEC located in Naas. This change was made in order to expand the number of counties and VECs having a community national school and to limit the number of community national schools commencing in 2012 ahead of the enactment of new legislation regarding VECs. The Education and Training Boards Bill, the general scheme of which has been published, will deal with the statutory basis regarding the VEC/ Education and Training Board involvement in community national schools. The Minister will also be publishing a working group report on the operation to date of Community National Schools in the coming weeks and in this context is considering how this model can be further developed as part of the primary system generally.
List of New Primary Schools 2012, New Primary Schools 2013 and 2014 onwards
Report of the New Schools Establishment Group on the Patronage of Primary Schools scheduled to commence in September 2012 and 2013
EDUCATION.IE
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
