Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 87: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when a standard assessment for non-anglophone pupils will be introduced in secondary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33440/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A key focus of educational policy is to ensure that newcomer students are integrated successfully into the Irish education system and that they have access to the same learning opportunities as are available to other students in the system, albeit with additional language support where needed. In the region of 1,900 additional teachers are being provided across primary and second level schools to support the language needs of pupils with a deficit in English.

Newcomer students avail of the same assessment arrangements as are available generally under the Certificate Examinations. In addition to the 11 languages provided for in the curriculum, the State Examinations Commission provides examinations in a range of non-curricular languages. These are languages which do not appear as part of the normal school curriculum but which students may opt to be examined in under certain conditions. Chief among these conditions are the requirements that:

the candidates for these examinations be from a member state of the EU

they speak the language in which they opt to be examined as a mother tongue

they are following a programme of study leading to the Leaving Certificate and

they are taking the Leaving Certificate examination in English

Candidates may undertake examination in only one of these language subjects.

For the 2007 Leaving Certificate examinations, candidates were entered for 15 non-curricular EU language subjects, an increase from nine in 2005. In regard to language proficiency, the Department has commissioned assessment packs from Integrate Ireland Language and Training to assist teachers in determining the English language proficiency levels of newcomer pupils. The packs have been designed for primary level, and are currently being adapted to make them age appropriate for second level use. Schools may use the primary packs in the interim.