Results 1-20 of 1,026,339 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Paul Kehoe)

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Business of Joint Committee (21 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Apologies have been received from Deputy Mairéad Farrell. I remind members to please ensure their mobile phones are switched off for the duration of the meeting. Are the minutes of 14 May agreed to? Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Good morning everyone and good morning to the witnesses. This meeting is on the need for greater regulation and oversight of the English language education sector. On behalf of the committee, I welcome Mr. Keith Moynes, assistant secretary, higher education policy division, Mr. Padraig Hennigan, assistant principal officer, and Ms Wendy Ross, assistant principal, higher education quality...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: This is a valuable opportunity to dig down into this issue. One of the phrases used by Mr. Moynes was "visa factories". That is one of the very serious and genuine concerns people have. We know that a lot of students were left high and dry by some of these providers winding up at very short notice. While it is a great financial loss to Italian or Spanish students who are coming here to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: It is a month-long course - 120 hours.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: What qualifications do they need to have going into that course?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: So not even a primary degree is required.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Not an honours degree.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: On the specifics of the level 7 qualification, is there any prescription around what area that level 7 would be in? Is there any requirement for it to have a linguistic element? Can someone have a level 7 in whatever it is, take a month-long course and they are then a qualified English-language teacher?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I remember the terror of being asked for the first time the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb, and I was coming from a language background and had a language degree - I had studied English and had done components of other languages as well. I am not at all sure that somebody who comes from, say, an engineering degree arrives with the required level of linguistic...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Is there a structured CPD element? There certainly was not in the past, although I know my experience of this is very much out of date. I assume a lot of this is still summertime work; for example, courses being run out of the local secondary school, where the Italian and Spanish students are dropping in. I did several years of this before I went back to train as a primary school teacher....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: How many of the people who are teaching ESL are working all year round as opposed to people who teach in the summer? How long are people staying within the profession? If we are serious about CPD, then we are talking about people who are making this a long-term career. However, if we are talking about the students from UCD doing three months during the summer, then we may throw our hat at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: However, there is not an incremental scale as such for the classroom teacher. Most of these are private operators and so would be paid an hourly wage. I understand that those looking for career progression will move into management or something like that. However, it does create concerns. I am aware that I am well over time but I want to come back to Mr. Moynes on the protection issue...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Mr. Moynes does understand that a lot of this is happening in a grey area.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: In platform working, for example, workers are all sharing the licences. They know if somebody calls the ball on that, then all of their mates' licences are gone. It is similar when people who know they are in breach of the visa requirements have an issue in the workplace. They are unlikely to go to the WRC. Despite the stated reason for these people to be here, they do not have the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: I have a couple of questions. Our guests from QQI spoke about due diligence and so on. How many inspections or investigations have been carried out in respect of some of these poor operators, rogue or dodgy agencies or whatever we might call them? We will recall that about ten years ago, there was an extensive investigation into English language schools and a number of them closed. In...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Deputy Clarke mentioned the escrow accounts and it was mentioned on numerous occasions last week. Will that be part and parcel of the new regime? Will funds be secured once paid by overseas students?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Remuneration and qualifications of teachers, and inspections of schools were key issues raised by the witnesses who appeared at last week's meeting. Has the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science engaged with the Department of Education and the Teaching Council regarding the qualifications of teachers and everything like that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Another issue raised last week was the provision whereby incoming international students can apply for their social security number well in advance of their arriving in the country. The Canadian model was mentioned at that meeting. Has any consideration been given to adopting a similar model in Ireland? Does the Department have any engagement with other stakeholders, such as the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: As a result of Brexit, are more European students coming to Ireland to study English than pre-2016? Has that given an opportunity for British schools offering the same service to relocate to Ireland to take advantage of Brexit?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (Resumed). (21 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: If it has them, will the Department forward them to the clerk of the committee?