Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 241: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the basis, in view of his reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 131, 153 and 490 of 4 November 2008, of his assertion that the levels of language support teachers in schools will start to reduce because of lower immigration levels and higher proficiency of immigrant pupils to speak English; if he will provide references to research or data that confirms this is the case; the levels of language support teachers his Department forecasts will be needed in the next three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40386/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As I have stated in this House the ongoing requirement for current levels of language support teachers in schools should also start to reduce in line with lower levels of immigration and in line with improvements in the levels of proficiency of those pupils for whom this resource has been available.

Various indicators are emerging at a macro economic level which point to a reduction in inward migration. The allocation process for language support teachers is an annual one and existing provision is not rolled over automatically. Schools will be applying afresh in the spring and early summer of 2009 for the 2009/10 school year, based on their assessment of the prospective needs of existing pupils and any new pupils they are enrolling. The position for individual schools will become clear at that stage.

As I have previously stated schools that require language support will still be entitled to get it. We still envisage having over 1,400 language support teachers in our schools in September 2009 and up to about 500 other teachers in part-time posts. By any standards this is a very significant resource and the challenge will be to ensure that it is used to maximum effect. The requirements for language support over the following years will be determined by the level of applications from individual schools.

As I announced on budget day we will also provide for some alleviation for the position of those schools where there is a significant concentration of newcomer pupils as a proportion of the overall enrolment. This will be done on a case by case basis.

Moreover, OECD research in this field (PISA 2006) shows that Ireland is the OECD country with the highest distribution of newcomers across schools meaning that schools with higher concentrations of newcomer children are relatively unusual. ESRI data also shows that only a small percentage of schools have high concentrations of newcomer children.

I realise that standards are not simply achieved by supplying teaching resources and that the quality of the supports that the child receives and the inclusive atmosphere cultivated in schools are important factors influencing the quality of learning achieved by migrant children. My Department recognises that we must monitor and review the educational experiences that are provided to migrant students so that we can improve the quality and effectiveness of our provision. The Department is undertaking a range of research to consider the question of integration in schools and how best to deploy our resources to ensure that all the children in our schools can benefit from learning in an intercultural Ireland.