Irish Government Launches Ambitious Plan to Double Enrollment in Gaelic Medium Schools

Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh, this week announced plans for the development of the first comprehensive Irish-medium education policy with an ambitious target of doubling the number of young people in Irish medium schools to 120,000.

This significant move by the Irish government is in response to a surge in recent years in demand for Irish medium education. Recently the Irish Independent 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%).

McHugh is quoted in the Galway Advertiser: “The new policy will provide a framework for the delivery of high quality Irish medium education in schools and early years settings outside the Gaeltacht and is a core aim of the Government’s 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030. The policy will build on the success already achieved in implementing the wide-ranging actions in the Policy on Gaeltacht Education.” 

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."

Referring to the new policy announcement, Minister McHugh stated: " The policy will be developed in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs with the work overseen by an inter-departmental steering committee and advisory committee." 

See Full Article Here: https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/112191/plan-announced-to-double-number-of-students-learning-through-irish