Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 143: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to recent comments by the Chairperson to the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism at the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science that racism in schools and colleges here needs to be addressed, and that the more diverse and multi-ethnic nature of Irish society needs to be addressed in the education system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9799/04]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's approach to the increasing diversity of Irish society, as reflected in the school population, has been and continues to be an intercultural approach, promoting mutual respect, dialogue and collaboration within the whole school community, and promoting anti-racism as an integral part of this approach. The new curricula at primary and post primary levels provide ample opportunity to extend students' awareness of the wider world and to learn about the lives and histories of people in other countries, and of their contributions to art and science. This is achieved particularly through the language, arts, religion, history and geography, music, business and home economics programmes, and through the social education module of the leaving certificate applied course.

In addition to the whole school intercultural approach, my Department has been providing resources to support English language acquisition by non-national children who have needs in this area and who are enrolled in primary and post-primary schools. To date in the current school year, grant assistance has reached almost €2 million and just under 500 additional teacher posts have been sanctioned. The aim of language support is to ensure that each child has sufficient language skills not only to benefit from but also to contribute to the educational activities taking place in the school. In this way, dialogue and sharing will leave no opportunity for racism to take root.

The social personal and health education programmes at primary and post-primary levels, and the civic social and political education programme at second level, are designed to prepare students for participatory citizenship and to develop the skills of critical appraisal and decision-making based on human rights and social responsibilities. They also promote a respect for human dignity, tolerance for the values and beliefs of others, and a celebration of diversity. Their format allows scope for teachers to deal with issues such as gender equity, racism and xenophobia, interculturalism and development education. In addition, many schools address the issue of racism in their religious education programmes.

A range of additional resources and information materials have been made available for schools including videos, resource packs and guidelines for teachers. In addition, following a national consultation process, a report on anti-racism and interculturalism in the education sector has been made available on the Department's website at www.education.ie. Actions in this area are supplemented by working groups, research reports, and seminars organised by various educational interests, including the management bodies and teacher unions.

My Department is supporting the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the NCCA, in producing guidelines on intercultural education and the curriculum for schools and teachers. Intercultural education and the primary school curriculum is being finalised for publication, while intercultural education in the post-primary school is expected to reach the same stage by summer 2004. These guidelines aim to mainstream intercultural education across all aspects of the curriculum, discussing diversity within Irish society, racism in attitude and practice and providing practical examples of how to develop an intercultural perspective across each area of the curriculum. The publication of the guidelines should ensure an increase in awareness of the issues around our multi-ethnic society and make a significant contribution to intercultural and anti-racist education in first and second level schools throughout the country.