Record Number of Students Enrolled in Irish Language Education

The Irish Independent recently reported that the number of pupils being taught in Irish at the Primary level has reached record levels in the recent academic year. Cited were new figures published by the Irish Department of Education that show almost one in 12 schoolchildren at the primary level are receiving their education through Irish. The latest data represents a 27% increase over the past 18 years (A total of 45,278 students across 247 primary schools were taught through the medium of Irish in the recent school year - an annual increase of 1.5%).

A majority of the increase is outside the Gaeltacht and unevenly distributed throughout Ireland with the highest rate in Galway city, where almost a quarter of all primary schoolchildren are taught through Irish.  “Other areas with rates over 10% include Cork city and county, Galway county, Donegal and Monaghan.”

In November 2013 the Independent reported that the number of children enrolled in Irish lnaguage schools had trebled in in twenty years. The Independent reported that Irish Medium education is "booming" in the suburbs of Dublin as young couples seek out an Irish education for their children in areas that have not seen children taught in Irish for generations.

The surge in Gaelic Medium education at the Primary level has exacerbated a shortage at the Secondary level. As the number of students who graduate from Irish language primary school increases, they and their parents are facing a shortage in availability of second-level education in the medium of Irish. Caomin O'h Eaghra, General Secretary of "An Foras Patrunachta", an organisation founded in 1993 to foster Irish medium education, was quoted sounding the alarm on the need for the government to address the looming shortage of slots in second-level Irish medium education; "We now have a lot of parents who want a second-level Gaolcholaiste (Irish medium post primary school), but there are none in their area."

In 2017 the Joint Committee on the Irish Language of the Oireachtas (Irish Republic Legislature) called on the Minister of Education to give equal status to Gaelic in the procurement and distribution of school text books at all grade levels and in all subjects. If implemented this change will equalize funding for Irish and English medium instruction.  The result will be Gaelic language text books in all subjects available to all students.

The move by the Joint Committee was an outcome of a proposal made by the Gaelic special interest group Muintearas, a community education and training organization. The organization's headquarters are based in Tíre an Fhia, Leitir Móir, Co Galway with offices in the Donegal, Mayo and Kerry Gaeltacht. The aims of the Muintearas project are to achieve equal opportunities in education and employment for the Gaeltacht, to facilitate full participation of parents in the education of their children through Gaelic medium education and promote the use of the Irish language in all aspects of community life in the Gaeltacht.  

Read The Full Article Here: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/education/more-primary-pupils-than-ever-being-taught-through-irish-38479459.html