Crisis in Irish-speaking community following resignation, warn activists
Nollaig 6, 2013
The decision by Seán Ó Cuirreáin to resign his position as Coimisinéir Teanga this week points to an emerging crisis in the Irish-speaking and Gaeltacht community, language activists and politicians have warned.
Mr Ó Cuirreáin told the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions on Wednesday that the Irish language is being marginalised by the system of public administration. He said he was tendering his resignation following repeated failures by Government to implement measures that would improve access to State services for Irish speakers.
Irish language groups, politicians and academics have voiced concern at Mr Ó Cuirreáin’s resignation and have criticised the Government for not implementing the Official Languages Act.
Conradh na Gaeilge called on the Government to undertake to “immediately resolve” these problems in partnership with An Coimisinéir Teanga. Donnchadh Ó hAodha, president of Conradh na Gaeilge, said Mr Ó Cuirreáin’s resignation was “undoubtedly the worst blow to the Irish language in many long years”.
Dr John Walsh, NUI vice-dean for research at the College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies in Galway,said he believed Mr Ó Cuirreáin had no alternative.
“I don’t think Seán Ó Cuirreáin had any choice. He presented evidence that the Government and the Department of the Gaeltacht together have not been serious about the implementation of the Official Languages Act for some years.” Dr Walsh said he was concerned the vacuum left by Mr Ó Cuirreáin’s resignation would be used in a forthcoming review to weaken the Act.
Sinn Féin Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said it was “a dark day” for the Irish language. Speaking on Raidió na Gaeltachta yesterday, Mr Ó Clochartaigh said Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs Dinny McGinley should resign.
Fianna Fáil spokesman on Gaeltacht Affairs Michael Kitt said the resignation was “a wake-up call” for the Government. Welsh language commissioner Meri Huws expressed her disappointment at the resignation and thanked Mr Ó Cuirreáin for the role he played in establishing the International Association of Language Commissioners.
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Commissioner resigns over Government failures on Irish
Nollaig 5, 2013
An Coimisinéir Teanga Seán Ó Cuirreáin has announced his intention to step down following the failure by Government to implement legislation designed to improve services to the public through Irish.
The Coimisinéir Teanga, whose role is to monitor compliance by public bodies with the provisions of the Official Languages Act, told a sitting of the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions that he believed the State was quickly moving towards a situation where the use of English would become compulsory for citizens wishing to interact with public bodies. The former deputy head of Radio na Gaeltachta said it was “hypocritical” of the Government to insist on Irish as a mandatory subject for the Leaving Cert only then for the State to deny citizens the provision of services through Irish.
Citing the widespread failure of departments and public bodies to take measures to ensure the right of citizens to use Irish when interacting with state agencies, Mr Ó Cuirreáin said three quarters of statutory language schemes had expired without renewal by the end of 2012 with a quarter of them out of date for three years or more. The failure to promote these “fundamental pillars” of the legislation – agreed by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with state bodies – represents a “significant risk”, Mr Ó Cuirreáin said. Criticising of the lack of services provided through Irish for Gaeltacht communities, Mr Ó Cuirreáin said it was time to deal with the issue “for once and for all”. “Requiring the people of the Gaeltacht to conduct their business in English with state agencies flies in the face of any policy which suggests that the survival of the Gaeltacht is on the State’s agenda,” he said.
The absence of staff with competence in both official languages is one of the main obstacles to the delivery of services in Irish as well as in English, Mr Ó Cuirreáin said. He added that it is “essential” that the issue of the Irish language in recruitment and promotion in the civil service be revisited “immediately”. Mr Ó Cuirreáin warned that any review of the Official Languages Act would be seen as “a fudge, a farce or a falsehood” if these failures are not addressed. “As we begin to regain our economic sovereignty, it would be a travesty if we were to lose our linguistic sovereignty – a cornerstone of our cultural identity, heritage and soul as a nation. I believe this to be a clear and present danger.” Mr Ó Cuirreáin was formally appointed as the first Coimisinéir Teanga in February 2004 under the Official Languages Act and was reappointed for a second term in 2010.
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Aistear na heolaíochta
Nollaig 4, 2013
Tógadh céim eile chun cinn ar aistear leanúnach na heolaíochta le gairid nuair a seoladh saothar 40 bliain leis an ollamh eolaíochta Matthew Hussey ar Vicipéid ar-líne na Gaeilge, a scríobhann Éanna Ó Caollaí .
Is thar tréimhse sé mhí a uaslódáladh “Fréamh an Eolais” – ciclipéid eolaíochta agus teicneolaíochta – ina bhfuil breis agus 8,400 alt agus níos mó ná 500,000 focal ann. Dhá bhliain ó shin a foilsíodh an chiclipéid seo den chéad uair mar leabhar de chuid Coiscéim. Kevin Scannell, Ollamh Matamaitice agus Ríomhchlárú, Ollscoil Saint Louis i Missouri, a chuir an t-ábhar in oiriúint don idirlíon. Agus é ag labhairt as Meiriceá ar Skype leo siúd a bhí i láthair ag an seoladh, rinne Scannell cur síos ar ullmhúchán na n-iontrálacha.
Cuireadh dearadh nua ar an ábhar, cumascadh físeáin agus fuaim agus déanadh naisc le hábhair eile. Cumas léitheora Cuireann an Vicipéid ar chumas an léitheora athruithe agus ceartúcháin a dhéanamh ar an ábhar rud a chabhraíonn le spreagadh forbairt agus foghlaim na heolaíochta. Scaoil Hussey leis an gcóipcheart ionas go bhféadfadh duine ar bith cur leis. Agus é ag labhairt ag seoladh an leabhair, mhínigh an tOllamh Hussey, a bhí ina eagarthóir tráth ar nuachtlitir eolaíochta na Gaeilge, An tEolaí , an fáth ar athfhoilsigh sé an saothar ar líne. Is é a chuir sé roimhe, a dúirt sé, “comhtháthú a dhéanamh idir leithne agus doimhneacht na n-eolaíochtaí … agus (é) a chur os comhair an phobail as Gaeilge”.
Agus saibhriú a dhéanamh ar an dteanga dá bharr sin, a dúirt sé. Dúirt Hussey go raibh “an t-uafás oibre le déanamh fós le rud cuimsitheach a bheith ann. Mar sin, iarraim oraibh, an t-aos óg ach go háirithe, agus gríosaím sibh an dúshlán sin a ghlacadh amach anseo – tabhair faoin rud sin”.
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Impact of austerity means Junior Cert change is a big ask
Nollaig 3, 2013
The timeframe for junior-cycle reform should be changed to deliver what has been promised
The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) recognises the huge importance of a high quality public education system. So, we believe, does the Minister for Education. We know that an ongoing process of development is essential to meet the needs of every individual student, of society at large and of the Irish economy. However, we believe that change that is rash, and for which adequate preparation has not been made, can cause lasting damage to the system and particularly to individual students.
While respecting that the curriculum should evolve, the TUI is adamant that we must not mimic the experience of England, where pendulum swings in policy have caused systemic damaged and have demoralised both teachers and students. Change must be properly planned, managed and resourced. In three bilateral meetings since mid-October, the TUI has given the Department of Education and Skills every opportunity to provide hard, practical evidence that the current proposals for change in junior cycle, which start next September, will be properly resourced to enable effective implementation. The Department has consistently failed to supply such evidence.
The Junior Cert may not be a high-stakes exam, but it is an important record of a young person’s achievement and progress at a critical developmental stage of life. A “school crest” certification process runs the real risk of debasing the value of the certificate and reducing public confidence in the assessment system. The TUI believes the retention of an appropriate form of external assessment and moderation and State certification is necessary to maintain standards, ensure consistency and support equity. In this regard, TUI has sought greater clarity in relation to assessment but regrettably, this has not been forthcoming. Teachers are concerned that they will be overwhelmed with administrative demands and diverted from their core responsibilities of teaching, resulting in a diminished student engagement and experience. Parents and teachers are rightly worried.
Scorched environment
It would be folly for anybody, the Minister included, to ignore the scorched environment that austerity has created in schools. Every parent knows that schools have been stripped bare. Teacher numbers have been slashed, class sizes have increased, senior posts have disappeared, budgets have been dramatically reduced and thousands of key pastoral resources such as guidance counsellors and year heads have been lost. Teachers, including principal and deputy principal teachers, have never been more stretched, with workloads already dramatically increased as a consequence of larger class groups, reduced staffing and a plethora of new bureaucratic demands and initiatives. Furthermore, the capacity of schools to raise any private funds has diminished significantly. Together, these factors represent a threat to the day-to-day operation of services in schools. A significant threat looms for many students in small, yet viable schools who will simply not have access to the diverse curriculum opportunities available in larger schools. Matters of curricular access and social equity have, therefore, not been addressed and we must avert a further layer of rural disadvantage or polarisation based on postcode or on a family’s relative wealth or poverty,
Whatever capacity to implement change that might have been there before the austerity cuts has long since been stripped out of the system. Every school is now considerably less well equipped to deal with radical change than five years ago. At a time when schools lack the most basic resources, how can they be expected to provide the technical expertise, access to ICT, differentiated learning opportunities and other required facilities? Connectivity is needed; not just to broadband, but to a rooted sense of realism.
Gerard Craughwell is president of the TUI
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Assessing school league tables
Samhain 28, 2013
Sir, – Given that so many Irish-language schools are at the top of the league table for entrants to third-level education, what is the justification for the 10 per cent bonus marks given for answering certain Leaving Cert papers through Irish?
The old idea was that since studying through Irish resulted in students acquiring less knowledge, that their marks should be topped up to sustain them in that challenging activity. Clearly that’s nonsense. So why does the Department of Education continue this practice, an obvious corruption of the examination marking system? The 10 per cent is an example of the sort of institutionalised favouritism to select groups which was the hallmark of governments in the past. Now it should be ended. – Yours, etc,
DONAL FLYNN,
Breffni Terrace,
Sandycove,
Co Dublin.
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More schools send all pupils to third level education
Samhain 27, 2013
Fee-paying schools claim majority of places that have a high entry-point requirement
Non fee-paying schools dominate the 2013 league tables for sending students into third-level education, accounting for three-quarters of the top 100 schools. However students from fee-paying schools and Gaelscoileanna claim the vast majority of places that have a high entry-point requirement. These students capture most of the places in teacher-training, medicine, dentistry and law, according to The Irish Times Feeder Schools list published today. Broadly, there is little difference between the performance of fee-paying and State schools in the overall feeder list, which shows how many students each school sends to each third-level institution.
However, once again, the list of schools which send students to high points courses in the universities, teacher-training colleges, DIT and the Royal College of Surgeons, is almost entirely dominated by fee-paying schools. Here, the top nine schools are all fee-paying: eight of these are in south Dublin while one, Glenstal Abbey, is a boys boarding school in Limerick with day fees of just over €10,000. The 10th place on this list is taken by Coláiste Íosagáin, a girls Gaelcholáiste in Stillorgan, south Co Dublin. Seven of the remaining top 20 schools on this list are also fee-paying. This is a consistent annual pattern in the lists and suggests that the highest-earning professions – including business and finance and some science careers – have a higher proportion of people who attended a private school.
The numbers of schools that effectively send all of their students into third level has continued to climb in 2013 with almost one in seven schools achieving this. There were 97 schools in this top group. The figures also show, however, that little has changed in terms of access to higher education, with children in well-off neighbourhoods much more likely to attend third level than those in less advantaged areas. There are 17 schools in the top 100 in south Dublin – 14 of them fee-paying – while north Dublin boasts only two, Castleknock College and Ard Scoil Rís.
Attendance at a grind school does not seem to guarantee a third level place, the figures show. Only one, Ashfield College, Templeogue, Dublin, was among the top schools with all students attending third level. The league tables also highlight the importance of having an institute of higher education nearby as a way to increase student access and participation. Students are much more likely to attend college if there is a local third-level institute.
Data for these tables comes from the publicly funded third- level institutions and the State Examinations Commission.
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Assessing school league tables
Samhain 27, 2013
Sir, – Gráinne Faller (“Parents need transparent information on schools”, Opinion, November 27th), declared there should be a debate on school performance tables.
Just over a fortnight ago, the Chief Inspector’s Report 2010-2012 was published. It contains an analysis of all 2,378 inspections which took place in second-level schools during this period, including surveys of 29,000 students and 20,000 parents. School inspection reports, which are available to the public online, contain factual information on the performance of each school across domains such as the quality of school management, the quality of supports for students and the quality of teaching and learning in subjects. In other words, contrary to Gráinne Faller’s claim that parents do not have easy access to information on schools, these reports answer key questions such as: Is the school well run? Are there good student support structures? Are the subjects taught in a manner consistent with improving educational outcomes for students?
League tables are based on a narrow and distorted view of second-level education, ie that it is all about exam results and CAO points. League tables tell us very little about schools because they ignore the multi-faceted work they do. League tables do not consider that each school and student is unique. They fail to see merit in the fact that schools set and meet goals based on the individual needs of their students. League tables dismiss the challenges faced a nd of ten overcome by s t udents and t eachers in every school in the country. The real debate in education is not about league tables, it is about what we want as a society and how schools can work to help us achieve that. At present only 55 per cent of second-level students in Ireland transfer to higher education. Despite the ongoing publication of feeder-school league tables, second-level schools continue to operate on the premise that their mission is to assist all students to achieve their potential as young people and as citizens.
However, if the message is that league tables matter more, all young people, and indeed all of society, will come to suffer.
– Yours, etc, PAT KING, ASTI General Secretary, Winetavern Street, Dublin 8.
Sir, – Can I deduce from the school “league tables” (2013 School League Tables supplement, November 26th) that if the pupils from schools where a minority proceed to third-level education were transferred to fee-paying schools or Gaelscoileanna that virtually all of these pupils would then all go on to third-level and capture many o f the places on high points entry courses? – Yours, etc, JOSEPH MACKEY, Kilkenny West, Glasson, Athlone, Co Westmeath.
Sir, – I refer to your publication of feeder tables to Irish institutions of higher education and to Gráinne Faller’s article on the measurement of schools’ academic performance (Opinion, November 27th).
At St Columba’s College, we have long championed the rights of parents to have a s much information as possible regarding the school’s performance in public examinations and this is why we always publish an average points score per candidate in the annual Leaving Certificate. This information is promulgated on the college website together with information about results against national averages. I know of no other school in Ireland which is so open about its results, but would certainly welcome similar openness from other institutions. In 2013, St Columba’s had an average CAO points score of 466 per candidate across all papers taken at all levels. Over the past five years, it has had an average score of more than 450 points per candidate. Regrettably, however, this outstanding achievement is not recognised in your tables because, by your own admission, the information you have at your disposal is limited. It is time there was much more transparency for parents – and the wider public – in the information given out by schools in Ireland. – Yours, etc, Dr LJ HASLETT, Warden, St Columba’s College, Dublin 16.
A chara, – It is always an interesting set of data, but one wonders whether the use of the “per cent progression” figure is in any way reflective of how particular schools are performing in the year in question. The sample population that would be most instructive as to how well our schools and students are doing, is surely the performance of that year’s Leaving Cert cohort. The “per cent progression” number includes a school’s students who are repeating first year in university as well as mature students. This skews the school performance data potentially significantly given that only 71 per cent of this year’s college registrations sat the Leaving Cert in 2013. Therefore, though perhaps unlikely, it i s possible for a school whose alumni had statistically significantly high failure rates in their first year exams and elect to repeat the year, to appear higher on the league list than a school where every one of its Leaving Cert 2013 students progressed to university. This surely suggests the data as presented should be interpreted with care. The data source is not something The Irish Times can control, but I am sure most who scour these league tables would rather a “pure” dataset, based solely on analysis of those who sat the current year’s Leaving Cert. That would allow us develop real indicators of how our secondary schools and our students are performing over time. – Is mise, DES O’SULLIVAN, Springfort, Montenotte, Cork.
A chara, – It is ironic that on the day you publish dubious “league tables”, Dan Flinter’s appointment as chair of The Irish Times Ltd should be announced (Home News, November 26th). A very wise appointment. Dan Flinter went to the same school as myself, CBS Athy. Out of perhaps 25 Leavi ng Cert graduates in the three years during which Dan Flinter graduated, one became editor of a national newspaper, another a university vice president, a third an enormously successful business consultant in the US, etc. And not a fee in sight! And there was me! – Yours, etc, BRENDAN RYAN, Senator 1981-92, 1997-07, CBS Athy 1964, The Orchards, Montenotte, Cork.
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Scaradh na gcompánach
Samhain 27, 2013
Tá Conradh na Gaeilge i ndiaidh éirí as ballraíocht Chomhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, scátheagraíocht na n-eagras deonach teanga.
Tá an dá eagras in iomaíocht le chéile le stádas “ceanneagraíochta” a bhaint amach faoi scéim nua mhaoinithe Fhoras na Gaeilge. Dúirt urlabhraí ón chomhdháil go leanfadh an dá eagras den chomhoibriú. Mar sin féin, bhí sé de cheart acu mar “scátheagraíocht ar earnáil dheonach na Gaeilge, agus mar lárchomhairle phobal na Gaeilge … bheith rannpháirteach go hiomlán sa phróiseas a bhaineann leis an múnla nua maoinithe ag Foras na Gaeilge, agus gach iarracht a dhéanamh chun stádas ceanneagraíochta a bhaint amach, ar mhaithe le balleagraíochtaí uile na comhdhála, (iad siúd atá maoinithe agus iad siúd nach bhfuil), agus ar mhaithe le pobal na Gaeilge”.
A mhalairt de thuairim a bhí ag an chonradh. Thug siad le fios nár chóir don chomhdháil dul in iomaíocht lena cuid ball féin. Chreid an conradh “go láidir” nárbh é an ról a bhí ag an chomhdháil dul in iomaíocht le balleagraíocht má bhí sé “ar chumas na heagraíochta sin an obair a dhéanamh – ní hamháin mar gheall gurbh é sin atá luaite i mbunreacht na comhdhála, ach ar bhonn prionsabail chomh maith”. Lena chois sin, d’fhógair Foras na Gaeilge an tseachtain seo caite go raibh cuireadh tugtha do 13 eagraíocht aighneachtaí a dhéanamh faoin chéad chéim eile den phróiseas maoinithe. Bhuail Foras na Gaeilge leis na heagrais Dé Aoine, 15ú Samhain agus “rinneadh plé agus tugadh soiléiriú ar cheisteanna a bhain leis na haighneachtaí”.
Is í an Aoine, 6ú Nollaig, an spriocdháta d’aighneachtaí. Dhéanfadh an foras measúnú ar na hiarratais. Tá sé i gceist acu bualadh leis na heagraíochtaí a bheas ar an ghearrliosta ag tús na bliana úire; déanfaidh an bord cinneadh faoi na ceanneagraíochtaí ar 17ú Eanáir.
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Group highlights importance of language learning for jobs
Samhain 15, 2013
A new group to highlight the importance of language learning for employment was launched in Trinity College Dublin yesterday.
Only 40 per cent of Irish people can hold a conversation in any second language, which is the fourth lowest rate in Europe.
One Voice for Languages is a group of more than 200 linguists, academics, teachers, parents, arts representatives and business leaders who have come together to “highlight Ireland’s deficit in 21st-century language skills”.
The group said language learning is important for employment, education and intercultural understanding. It also claimed language learning is the subject of a “diminishing status” in the Irish education system.
The group came together to raise awareness of the issue following “repeated calls” from industry leaders, employment specialists and experienced linguists.
Dr Ann Devitt said the group was seeking to “highlight how important languages are for Ireland, not only in terms of skills for the economy but also in terms of societal and cultural benefits”.
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School inspectors criticise standards of teaching in maths and Irish
Samhain 5, 2013
Teaching quality and standards in all other subjects were found to be satisfactory Report includes assessments after announced and unannounced inspections
School inspectors have highlighted unsatisfactory quality standards in the teaching of maths and Irish in schools. However, teaching in all other subject areas holds up better, with more positive assessments, a report by the chief inspector of schools has found. The report shows that a quarter of Irish lessons at primary level during inspections were unsatisfactory. In post-primary schools, about a third of Irish lessons were ranked as unsatisfactory, as were a quarter of maths lessons. And while maths learning in primary schools was satisfactory or better in 86 per cent of cases, the report showed that only half of students were involved in collaborative working, something considered essential in this subject area.
Teaching quality and standards in all other subjects were found to be satisfactory or better, according to the Chief Inspector’s Report 2010-2012 released yesterday. The highly detailed report includes assessments after announced and unannounced inspections by staff from the department. For the first time the inspector’s report includes surveys involving parents and also students, who give their assessments of teaching standards in our schools. Inspectors judged that 86 per cent of lessons inspected in unannounced inspections were satisfactory or better in primary schools, but 14 per cent were not satisfactory. The overall figures for post-primary schools were 87 per cent satisfactory or better and 13 per cent not satisfactory. This generally good performance was repeated across all lessons, the inspectors judged, except for in the areas of Irish and maths. Baseline of data Minist er f or Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn said he had read the report with interest. It now provided a baseline of data which could be used in ongoing inspection activities.
The difficulties with maths and Irish were a problem, he said. “Does it point to a need for reform? No, it screams for reform,” Mr Quinn said of the inspector’s findings. For too long people had “unwisely” accepted the notion that Ireland had the best education system in the world, something that blocked change. The report showed that generally the school system was performing well, he said, but it also revealed some weaknesses and pointed schools in the direction of improvement. The school system had been working “in a challenging context” given the fiscal restraints, said chief inspector of schools Harold Hislop. Student numbers had grown while the number of teachers has remained fairly static. The report included the details of a l mo s t 800 whole school evaluations and 1,100 incidental inspections at primary level, he said. At post-primary there had been a l mos t 190 whole school evaluations, more than 1,400 subject inspections and 430 incidental inspections, he said.
Inspection procedures had been changed considerably and this was the first such report to be issued publicly by the inspector’s office, Mr Hislop said. Also for the first time questionnaires were completed by thousands of parents and students to assess their views on the provision of education. These surveys showed there was a “communications issue” between schools and parents. While 94 per cent of primary pupils felt safe at school, only 70 per cent of parents f elt their child’s school was dealing well with bullying. Only 70 per cent of parents said their views were regularly sought by the school. Parental surveys The responses from parental surveys were very positive from the point of view of education, the report indicates. The survey of 47,000 parents of primary school pupils showed that 97 per cent of them f elt that teaching was good in their child’s school. At post-primary school level 87 per cent of the 20,000 parents surveyed were happy about the teaching standards at their child’s school. The 29,000 post-primary student surveys showed 70 per cent of students said their classes were interesting and 74 per cent agreed that their teachers explained things clearly.
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