Th way ahead for gaelscoileanna

FACTS AND STATISTICS

There are now 163 gaelscoileanna and 38 gaelcoláistí in the 26 counties.

Gaelcoláistí (post-primary) are non-fee paying but not part of the state school system.

There are now 27,649 primary pupils in Irish-medium schools in

the 26 counties outside Gaeltacht areas. This is an increase of more than 10,000 in 10 years.

The number of post-primary students in Irish-medium schools has risen by 2,700 to 6,881 in 10 years.

Gaelscoileanna and coláistí are patronised by a range of groups, both religious and secular.

More than 50 are now under

the patronage of a dedicated

company, An Foras Patrúnachta.

Four new gaelscoileanna and one gaelcoláiste are due to open in 2007.

There are more than 2,000

teachers working in the sector,

as well as an undocumented number of special needs

assistants and other resource teachers.

With the opening of a gaelscoil in Leitrim last year there is now at least one Irish-medium school in every county in Ireland.

ADVANTAGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Research published in the Irish Journal of Educationsays that gaelscoil parents have more contact with school principals and greater access to information about their child's school record than their counterparts in mainstream schools.

Gaelscoileanna rank highly in university feeder school lists, with six in the top 25 last year.

The Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, just announced the establishment of a new support service for post-primary teachers of Irish, An tSeirbhís Tacaíochta Gaeilge Dara Leibhéal, which will provide professional development for teachers from next autumn.

OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES

Accommodation is a big issue and the movement is lobbying hard for better resources. The support organisation, Gaelscoileanna, is calling on the Government to take Irish-medium schools into consideration when planning greenfield sites.

Local VECs are making inroads into the Irish-medium sector and claim to be better-resourced than groups such as An Foras Patrúnachta and Gaelscoileanna.

There is currently no specific training available for immersion teaching and there is a lack of resources for teaching in Irish.

It is proving difficult to attract principals into the system, and special needs assistants with adequate language skills are hard to find.

The lack of a national plan for the Irish language is leaving gaelscoileanna out on a limb, say lobby groups.