Experts savage State policy on teaching Irish [independent.ie]
- Published: 22 April 2009
Source: independent.ie
By Katherine Donnelly
Wednesday April 22 2009
A damning indictment of the treatment of Irish in the education system is contained in a new report on the status of the language.
The report stresses that "change is needed, firstly in the attitude of the Department of Education and Science, and then in all aspects of the teaching of Irish in English-medium schools". While it welcomes a level of competence in Irish that is probably at its highest since the Famine, it suggests official policy and the education system have been found wanting. "The history of the change in the State's policy towards teaching Irish has been far from even or adequate to meet the needs, or even satisfy the expectations of the Irish people over the past 40 years", it states.
It notes that that it was the support of voluntary organisations that "forced" on the Department of Education the parallel system of Irish-medium schools.
Competence
'The Irish Language And The Irish People' report, by sociologist Fr Micheal MacGreil SJ and Fergal Rhatigan of National University of Ireland Maynooth, credits the Irish-medium schools with pushing up the proportion of people expressing a reasonable competence in the language to 47pc -- up 6pc in 18 years.
But it is disappointed at a decrease in occasional and more frequent use of the language, from 28pc to 23pc.
The report was launched yesterday by Gaeltacht Minister Eamon O Cuiv. He said that people's positive attitudes and aspirations for the language have remained very high, with 93pc of the adults wishing to have Irish revived or preserved.
"We have saved our language to the point where it can survive. It is strong enough now to be revived, if the appropriate policies and actions are taken," said Fr MacGreil.
Those expressing reasonable competence in the language are more likely to be in younger age groups, reared in Munster, highly educated and in senior occupations which, it states, bodes well for the future.
The report found that people's view of the language became significantly and substantially more positive after leaving school.
- Katherine Donnelly
