Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 646: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the procedures which are in place to assist primary schools in dealing with substantial numbers of new Irish pupils for whom English may not be their first language; her views on whether there may be a case for English as a foreign language in some such schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27337/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Ensuring that all children get the support that they need to do well at school is a major priority for this Government. In order to ensure that children whose first language is not English can succeed at school, my Department gives additional support to their schools which can take the form of financial assistance, additional temporary teacher posts or portions of teacher posts.

The level of extra financial or teaching support provided to any school is determined by the numbers of non-English speaking students enrolled. Recent years have seen a significant rise in the number of language support posts being provided by my Department. In the 2005-06 school year, 563 whole-time equivalent language support teachers were in place at primary level and 263 whole-time equivalent teachers were in place at second level to support such pupils, representing an investment of €47 million.

This compares to 149 and 113 teachers respectively in the school year 2001/02. Thus, there has been a four-fold increase in language support teachers at primary level in just 4 years.

So the Government has been increasing resources in this area in line with rising demand. However, this is a relatively new area and as such must be kept under review to ensure that children are getting the support that they need and that this support is proving effective in helping them to make the most of their time at school.

My Department is currently reviewing the supports available to schools to support children whose first language is not English. In that context we are particularly looking at the pressures on those schools that have a great number of children whose first language is not English.

The Deputy may also be aware that two weeks ago I met with officials in London to discuss their experience of meeting the needs of non-English speaking students. I also visited two London schools to look at their policies in action. I was particularly interested to learn about which strategies have been successful in terms of engaging with these children's parents as I am conscious that language difficulties are just one aspect of this issue.

As with all children, the interest that their parents show in their education is so important and so it is crucial to find ways of empowering them to get involved. Issues that have arisen in the context of the review include the different expectations of parents of different nationalities and the fact that the child may be in the only English speaker in the household. In relation to the latter issue, the Deputy may be interested to know that a DVD explaining the primary school system for parents was produced in several different languages earlier this year.

Other issues that have arisen in the context of the review include the current cap on the number of language support teachers available to a school and on the length of time for which an individual student can access language support. I am delighted to be able to inform the Deputy that the draft new Social Partnership Agreement includes the provision of an extra 550 language support teachers by 2009 and the reform of the current limit of two additional teachers per school. This major increase in investment will make a big difference to schools.