Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1032. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider an update to the leaving certificate Portuguese curriculum and examination to facilitate Brazilian students who speak a Brazilian Portuguese dialect; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41182/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1033. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider allowing for Brazilian Portuguese to make up an equal part of the existing Portuguese leaving certificate curriculum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41183/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1032 and 1033 together.

The teaching of the current Leaving Certificate Portuguese specification commenced in 2020. Portuguese became a curricular subject in 2020, with the first students taking the examination on that basis in 2022. Portuguese had previously been examined on a non-curricular basis. The current specification was designed with all standard variations of the Portuguese language in mind. Accordingly, learning outcomes and experiences are intended to meet the needs of all learners including, but not limited to, those from Angolan, Brazilian, Mozambican, Portuguese and other Portuguese-speaking heritage backgrounds. Having appropriate regard to dialectic variations is a recognised feature in developing language curricula.

Students undertaking the oral examination based on the current Leaving Certificate Portuguese specification are advised that they may respond to the examiner using a standard variant of the Portuguese language differing from that of the examiner. For example, if the examiner speaks European Portuguese, the candidate may respond using Brazilian Portuguese.

Under the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme announced in March 2022, the specifications for all current Leaving Certificate curricular subjects are scheduled to be redeveloped by 2029 and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has published the schedule for this work. . This redevelopment is being implemented in five annual tranches from 2025 to 2029, with new and revised specifications introduced for fifth years in each year across that period.

Leaving Certificate Portuguese is included in the Tranche 5 subjects and the revised specification is currently scheduled for introduction for fifth years from the start of the 2029/30 school year.

The NCCA engages in public consultations as specifications in any subject are developed. This includes public consultation on the subject background papers and briefs which guide the development work, as well as on the final draft specifications themselves. The redevelopment of Portuguese will include these consultation steps in due course which will enable all stakeholders to provide their views.