Written answers

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Department of Education and Skills

Languages Programme

8:00 pm

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 217: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his policy on language provision in primary, secondary and third level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11022/12]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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In 2004 the Department invited the Council of Europe Language Policy Division to develop a Language Education Policy Profile for Ireland. The Council of Europe offers member States assistance in carrying out analyses of their language education policies with the assistance of a team of international experts. The Profile was published in 2007. It recommended that Ireland should develop a national languages strategy. Its remit would cover such areas as: the place and role of languages in society; possible scenarios for the integration of languages in the education system and the implications for curriculum development, teacher education etc.; language provision at second level; structures or measures to provide ongoing advice on language policy.

A Working Group has developed a draft languages policy for internal submission to the Department preparatory to a wider consultation phase. In the meantime, policy is that two languages, Irish and English should be available from the beginning of primary schooling, that immersion approaches will be supported under which English may be delayed to the start of the second term in senior infants, that Irish will remain a compulsory subject in second level schools except for those with exemptions, and that the languages English, Irish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Arabic will continue to be offered as part of the curriculum in schools in senior cycle. There are no plans in the current budgetary situation to extend the range of languages available as part of the curriculum in second level schools. However, the availability of Transition Year and the option of school developed short courses proposed as part of junior cycle reform will provide opportunities for schools to provide additional languages if they wish to do so.

Students at third level have access to a wide range of foreign language courses which can be taken as core subjects or in combination with a range of other disciplines, supported by the IOT Languages Strategy Network, and the Erasmus programme. The new Higher Education Strategy emphasises that higher education institutions need to actively engage with stakeholders in the communities they serve and this will be a key priority for implementation. My Department and its agencies will continue to engage with industry to ensure that the education responds insofar as is possible to the emerging needs of enterprise in this area.

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