Standard of students' Irish 'shameful' after 14 years of learning language 

Mícheál Ó Foighil, manager of Coláiste Lurgan in Connemara, has criticised both the minister for education and the department for the way in which Irish is being taught in schools.

The head of one of the country's best-known Gaeltacht summer colleges has slammed the Government for "putting its head in the sand" in relation to the "broken education system".

Mícheál Ó Foighil, manager of Coláiste Lurgan in Connemara, has criticised both the minister for education and the department for the way in which Irish is being taught in schools and said the standard among students is "shameful".

He said Minister Norma Foley should be concerned by the level of Irish students have after spending 14 years of education and suggested that pupils who attend Gaeltacht summer courses gain a better command of the language in just a few weeks.

Speaking in Irish on the Radio na Gaeltachta radio station, he urged the minister to compare the results.

He added that the system is "broken" as a result of "significant neglect". However, no one is willing to admit this or tackle it, he added.

Mr Ó Foighil said that officials and the Government would prefer to leave the system as it is, even if it isn't working instead of "rocking the boat".

Evaluation

Responding, a Department of Education spokesperson said it is committed to supporting high-quality teaching and learning of the Irish language and of other subjects through the medium of Irish, both inside and outside of the Gaeltacht.

"The Department of Education Inspectorate carries out a wide range of evaluations in Irish-medium settings and settings in which Irish is taught across the early years, primary and post-primary sectors. The Inspectorate also evaluates and reports on the quality of courses provided by Irish-language summer colleges."

The spokesperson pointed to the commitment in the Programme for Government to provide a comprehensive policy on Irish in the education system.

The Department is now progressing with work on the development of a new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht, and public consultation was launched in October on this measure.

Meanwhile, Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh raised specific concerns in the Dáil about teacher shortages in Irish language medium schools, or gaelcholáistí.

"It is extremely challenging to get teachers who can provide such subjects as woodwork, metalwork, home economics is a particular problem, and teachers who can do that through the Irish language," he said.

The Taoiseach said he agreed that everything must be done to ensure schools have the resources and staff required.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said actions to expand the pool of teachers with the language skills to teach in Gaeltacht schools have been initiated under the Gaeltacht Education policy.

Two new courses, one in Marino Institute of Education and the other in Mary Immaculate College, have been rolled out with funding provided for 30 students to undertake each of these courses.