Teaching English to foreign pupils costs €27m

THE Government is spending €27 million a year on language support for non-English speaking children being taught in Irish schools.

The money pays for 600 teaching staff who provide additional English classes for pupils, at primary and secondary level, whose first language is not English.

Schools are approved for a language support teacher if they have between 14 and 27 pupils not from English-speaking countries. An extra staff member can be appointed for 28 or more such students. There are at least 8,400 students in primary and secondary education who do not speak English as a first language, but the Department of Education does not keep a record of the exact number of children involved.

However, a spokesperson said a further 2,000 children are helped by grants of €2.5m for part-time teachers in schools with up to 13 non-national pupils.

The figures were revealed at the launch of guidelines on improving integration in Irish schools yesterday.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment developed the guidelines for the Department of Education, which is to issue them to 25,000 primary teachers. The aim is to help schools to develop an intercultural environment in classes, with a strong focus on parents’ involvement.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) welcomed the comprehensive guidelines, as teachers have noticed some very young children developing racist attitudes.

“Children are not born with these attitudes but it is saddening to think how quickly they can be acquired,” said INTO general secretary John Carr.

“Many of these attitudes have been learned from adults who have reacted badly to the hundreds of non-Irish citizens who have come to our country in recent years. This provides an urgent reminder of the duty to educate against racism,” he said.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin said increased immigration since the 1990s contributed to the broadening of cultural diversity.

While the Government’s National Action Plan Against Racism identified education as one of the most important means of combating racism, Ms Hanafin said it could not carry the sole responsibility for developing a more inclusive culture.

Schools should do more to help integrate pupils from different countries, cultures and religions, according to the guidelines.

Schools should also review policies to measure promotion of inclusiveness in day-to-day activities.

The guidelines say the integration of intercultural themes in a school curriculum provides opportunities for children to appreciate the diversity of society.

“Children will learn attitudes, values and skills through seeing them modelled by those in the school and in the community of the school,” the 229-page document says.