300 schools to lose language support teachers

CHILDREN in almost 300 schools look set to be affected by the cutback in English language teaching next year, according to official figures.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe said last month he is re-imposing a limit of two language support teachers per school for children whose first language is not English from next September, resulting in the loss of around 500 jobs.

Since last year, under a commitment in the Towards 2016 partnership deal, the Department of Education has appointed a language support teacher for every 14 students who need extra teaching in English, up to a maximum of six teachers.