Dáil debates
Tuesday, 17 October 2023
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Oideachas trí Ghaeilge
5:00 pm
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source
Tá an-dul chun cinn déanta ó thaobh aitheantais do na scoileanna Gaeltachta. As the Deputy will be aware, the validation process commenced in October 2022. Recognition as a Gaeltacht school will be awarded to a school when it is confirmed that the school's practice has been developed in accordance with the language-based criteria. As the Deputy has outlined, the process involves a visit from the inspectorate to schools participating in the scheme to assess their progress in implementing the criteria. The visit includes input from school staff, students and parents' representatives. Following the visit, the inspector writes a report on the detailed findings of the evaluation. The school is then given an opportunity to verify the facts in the report and to respond to it. It is therefore quite an involved process but it is important that, on foot of the inspectorate's visit, the school is given an opportunity to reply. It is expected that the inspectors' evaluations will be entirely completed by Easter 2024. Over half of the schools in the scheme have received an evaluation visit to date. Official recognition has not been awarded to any school yet as the process is ongoing. Schools will be contacted in due course as regards the outcome of the validation process. It is likely that the first batch of results under the validation process will be received by schools prior to Christmas.
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