Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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496. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Polasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta by the dedicated inspectorate team within her Department; the reports she has received to date from the inspectorate team with regard to the effectiveness of the implementation of the policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4866/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm that the team of  Inspectors within my Department continue to carry out advisory sessions to provide support for schools in implementing the language-based criteria to achieve Gaeltacht school recognition under the provisions of the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme. They  also provide information on progress being made by schools to my Department.  In collaboration with schools, inspectors are also assisting with the identification of examples of innovative practice in the provision of high-quality immersion education. Due to the exceptional circumstances arising from the global pandemic, online advisory sessions have been provided to schools over the past 2 years. A combination of online and face-to-face advisory sessions will continue to be provided to schools in 2022.

My Department published an Inspectorate report on the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme in December 2018, which identified the key messages from advisory visits carried out by inspectors to Gaeltacht Schools under the Scheme. The report found that:

- early-immersion education was being implemented in junior and senior infants in almost all primary schools participating in the Scheme

- a wider range of subjects was being taught through the medium of Irish in post-primary schools

- while there were challenges in post-primary schools in relation to the use of Irish as the language of communication amongst students, significant efforts were being made - to address those challenges and progress was already being made.

A range of Guides have been issued to schools to promote the use of Irish in Gaeltacht schools and communities, including the following:

- Guide for Gaeltacht Primary Schools: Indicators of Good Practice for Immersion Education (2020)

- Guide for Gaeltacht Post-Primary Schools: Indicators of Good Practice for Immersion Education (2020)

- A Guide for Gaeltacht Schools: Partnership with the Community in promoting the use of Irish (2021)

- Guide for Gaeltacht Schools: Strengthening links between Primary Schools and Early Learning and Care (ELC) Settings (2021)

A three-year Research and Evaluation Study plan has been developed by the Gaeltacht Education Unit in collaboration with the Educational Research Centre (ERC) and the Inspectorate to evaluate the impact and outcomes of the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme in order to inform future policy and practice in schools. An initial Report on Case-study Schools participating in the Gaeltacht Recognition Scheme was published in September 2021. These case-studies, which were carried out in twelve primary schools and seven post-primary schools, provide a comprehensive insight into the schools’ own innovations and good practices, and on their learnings to date through their school self-evaluation practices.

The Report on Case-study Schools includes many positive findings in relation to:

- the practice of boards of management, teachers, pupils and parents regarding the use of Irish

- schools’ re-energised vision for the Irish language and Gaeltacht identity

- the increased use and promotion of Irish language and culture in school communities

- the effective implementation of early immersion in Irish in all case-study primary schools

- the innovative strategies being implemented in a number of schools to extend the use of Irish

- the use of digital technology as a teaching resource in certain instances.

The following areas were identified as requiring further development:

- the use of Irish as the language of socialisation among students in some post-primary schools

- better facilitation of the effective transition from naíonraí to Gaeltacht primary schools in some cases

- the need to strengthen the involvement of parents and pupils/students in action-planning and school self-evaluation.

The Research and Evaluation study will continue during 2022/23. The ERC continues to conduct research on student attainment and on the views of parents, students, teachers and principals of participating schools. A report on these research findings will be published by my Department in 2022.