Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps she is taking to assist schools in catering for the increasingly diverse cultural and ethnic nature of the pupil base, particularly at primary level; if her attention has been drawn to concerns expressed by teachers at the lack of resources available to them to cope with the changing nature of the pupil base; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19673/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's approach to the increasingly diverse cultural and ethnic nature of the pupil base in our schools is twofold — to promote and facilitate the delivery of an intercultural education for all children and to provide the specific supports needed by children whose first language is not English to help them to succeed at school.

Intercultural education revolves around respecting and celebrating diversity as well as promoting equality and human rights within and outside the whole school community. Last month, I launched Intercultural Education in the Primary School: Guidelines for Schools. This valuable resource was prepared by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, to support teachers and schools in developing a more inclusive learning environment and in providing students with knowledge and skills they need to participate in a multicultural world. My Department provided €167,000 to ensure that every primary teacher in the country will receive a copy of this document in either English or in Irish. Corresponding guidelines for intercultural education in post-primary schools are currently being prepared and will be available later this year.

In relation to the provision of resources to enable children with low levels of competence in the English language to succeed at school, extra staffing and materials are available to schools to help them meet the needs of such students.

In the current school year, my Department has provided over 600 language support teachers to help pupils who have significant language difficulties, representing an investment of €27 million. Over 400 of these teachers are working in primary schools with approximately 6,000 children. As well as these teaching posts, my Department has provided grant aid to 350 primary schools, each of which has fewer than 14 pupils in need of assistance with language. Over 2,000 international students are benefiting from this form of support.

Schools granted full language support teacher posts receive additional financial support to enable the purchase of resource materials suitable for use within the language support class or mainstream class.

A further additional resource will be available to teachers shortly in the form of guidelines on teaching students who do not have English as their first language. These are currently at an advanced stage of preparation by the NCCA.