More overseas-trained teachers passing Irish language exam

TEACHERS trained overseas are becoming more successful at passing the Irish language exam needed to work permanently in this country.

Latest figures on the Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge (SCG) show more than 100 people sat repeat exams this autumn.

Of those, 83% passed the aural or listening comprehension section and 55% passed the oral exam, while the pass rates in the two written papers were 72% and 56%.

The exam provides certificate of attainment in Irish, which is compulsory for primary teachers here. It must be passed by teachers who qualify outside the Republic of Ireland within five years to achieve full recognition by the Department of Education.

More than 500 people took the SCG this year, a sign of the large numbers of Irish or foreign teachers working here with overseas qualifications. The minimum requirement for entry to teacher training colleges of a grade C in higher level Leaving Certificate Irish means many students choose to study teaching in Britain and Northern Ireland. After many years of lobbying by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) on behalf of members finding the SCG too difficult, the pass rates were eased last year and a course for those preparing for it set up at Coláiste Mhuire Marino in Dublin.

INTO general secretary John Carr said the encouraging latest figures show pass rates will soar if courses of professional study are made available to those sitting the exam.

“The SCG must be passed by a candidate in order to retain a teaching position. For that reason, it is a high stakes test and a very stressful experience,” Mr Carr said.

The changes to the exam structure were announced by then Education Minister Noel Dempsey last year in light of increasing numbers taking the SCG. The 524 teachers who sat at least one part of it this year compares to 19 candidates in 1993.

The release of the latest figures comes just a week after a Department of Education inspectorate report found that up to one-third of teachers in their first year in schools are having difficulty teaching Irish.

The subject must be taught for at least half an hour a day.