ESG to be dissolved
October 1, 2013
At an extraordinary meeting held last Saturday a decision was made by the Bord of Directors of Eagraíocht na Scoileanna Gaeltachta (ESG) to wind up the company.
ESG, based in Baile Bhuirne, Co. Cork was established in 2006 as an umbrella body for primary and secondary schools in the Gaeltacht areas. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has announced it will not provide funding to the organisation from the beginning of next year. Since 2007, funding of €780,000 has been approved by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for the organisation to employ a CEO and an administrator and to cover operating costs. .
The Bord contend ESG has an important role which is central to the implementation of the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language and that the organisation should be available to represent and lobby on issues pertaining to Gaeltacht education.
ESG and Gaelscoileanna Teoranta have been in talks towards amalgamating the two organisations for over two years, but while certain progress was made in this regard, the failure of both funders – Foras na Gaeilge and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht – to come to a solution in relation to future funding caused an insurmountable obstacle to the progression of the merge. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht claim it would have been inappropriate to get involved in talks relating to the amalgamation of two voluntary organisations while this process was still underway.
At the end of May, speaking at a conference held by An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG) Seán Ó Foghlú, General Secretary of the Department of Education and Skills announced his department is to undertake a full review of the provision of Irish medium education in Gaeltacht schools.
Ó Foghlú explained the objective of this review was to recognise the different choices in the provision of the Irish medium education which suit the needs of the Gaeltacht area planning according to The Gaeltacht Act 2012. It would seem strange that the recently announced decision by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to pull the plug on ESG funding should come in advance of the results of the review.
Mairéad Ní Chualáin, Chairperson of ESG said this is “a critical time for Gaeltacht education given the review intended by the Department of Education and Skills as well as the changes to curriculum being implemented in the next year. Now, the Gaeltacht schools will have no input in either of these processes”.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
