Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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106. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 38 of 24 May 2017, the status of the introduction of Mandarin Chinese as a leaving certificate curricular subject; the measures he has taken to engage with interested parties in this regard, particularly with representatives of the People’s Republic of China; the extent to which Mandarin Chinese is being prioritised within the ten year foreign language strategy of his department’s action plan for education; his views on the importance of the Mandarin language within the context of the overall language strategy; the funding being made available to support Mandarin Chinese in schools; the most recent statistical breakdown of numbers of students studying Mandarin Chinese at each school year at secondary school level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41123/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The publication of an ambitious ten-year Foreign Language Strategy is a key commitment in my Department's Action Plan for Education and is a priority issue for me in the context of my goal of making Ireland’s education system the best in Europe. 

As part of their Junior Cycle programme, schools can offer a 100 hour course in Chinese Language and Culture.

Data provided from schools indicates that 86 out of the 644 post-primary schools offering a Transition Year programme offered Chinese language, making it the fourth most popular language for schools to offer in Transition Year; after three curricular languages, French, German and Spanish.

The Strategy will include the introduction of Mandarin Chinese as a Leaving Certificate curricular subject, as a follow on from the Junior Cycle short course in Chinese Language and Culture. A new specification for Leaving Certificate Chinese will be developed by the NCCA. This will include consultation with stakeholders before it is finalised. The State Examinations Commission will develop an appropriate Leaving Certificate examination to compliment the delivery of the specification.

Together with other measures, this will mean that all of our main target languages in our export strategies will now be provided as curricular Leaving Certificate subjects.

With the introduction of Chinese as a Leaving Certificate language, it will be necessary to ensure that appropriate teacher education is provided so that Leaving Certificate students will enjoy their language learning experiences and gain not only an understanding of the language, but also Chinese culture.

The issue of Mandarin Chinese at the Leaving Certificate has been discussed at a number of high level meetings both in Ireland and China over the last number of years, most recently in August of this year.