Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ward for raising this issue. I want to give the apologies of the Minister for Education, who cannot be present today.

Languages Connect - Ireland's Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026 aims to increase and diversify the range of languages taught and learned in line with the European framework of key competences for lifelong learning of 2007, which recognises the ability to communicate in a foreign language as one of the key competences needed for personal fulfilment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment. Enterprise Ireland had identified eight languages as important for Ireland's future skills needs: German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Arabic and Japanese. In the words of Enterprise Ireland:

A workforce possessed of significant foreign language capabilities will make Ireland a more attractive destination for investment, and provide the skills required by our indigenous companies to enable them to expand into overseas markets.

Languages Connect provided for the development of a "Leaving Certificate specification in Mandarin Chinese for non-native speakers (L3) as a follow on from the Junior Cycle short course in Chinese Language and Culture" and for specifications in "Portuguese, Polish and Lithuanian aimed at mother tongue speakers (L1) to replace existing non-curricular provision". There was very significant consultation in the lead-up to the development of this strategy. Subject specifications, including for leaving certificate Mandarin Chinese, are developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA. The development process is a thorough one, involving extensive consultation, following which the subject specification is approved through the representative structures of the NCCA and subsequently approved by the Department. The State Examinations Commission then implements examinations in line with the subject specification and the overall policy framework.

The State Examinations Commission is required to conduct its examinations in a manner that is faithful to the approved subject specification developed by the NCCA and in line with assessment policy as set out by the Department. The assessment of the leaving certificate Mandarin Chinese programme is based on the specification and provides that candidates must respond to questions on the examination paper using simplified characters in line with the specification. Heritage speakers are also welcome to study the course and sit the exam, but it has been designed for students with no prior knowledge of Mandarin. By contrast, the Portuguese specification is intended for learners of all language backgrounds, including heritage learners. While Mandarin Chinese is pitched at pre-A1 or A1 level, Portuguese is pitched at A2 or B1 level.

The new language specifications broadly align with the common European framework of reference for languages, CEFR. Within CEFR, there is an EU project, European benchmarking Chinese language, to incorporate the Chinese language into the CEFR framework. If the design of the leaving certificate Mandarin Chinese specification had been for native speakers and-or encompassed both sets of characters, the differences in the two forms of characters would also have had implications for vocabulary, syntax and language use. This would present great challenges across teaching, learning and assessment, which would also have impacts on higher education language programmes and initial teacher education. The Department will consider the potential to develop a specification for leaving certificate Mandarin Chinese for native speakers, L1.