Gaelscoil dismay

Dismay in gaelscoileanna at ministerial decision on English

Neill O’Neill

A recent announcement by Education Minister Mary Hanafin that gaelscoileanna will be compelled to formally teach English has been met with dismay by people in Mayo who are involved in educating through Irish.
Mary Hanafin announced on July 26 last that from January 1, 2008 all gaelscoileanna must teach a minimum of two-and-a-half hours of English per week. At present many gaelscoileanna teach through Irish only for the first few years of a child’s education and introduce English after it is felt the children have grasped the Irish language. This is known as immersion education and the Minister’s fear is that it is having an adverse effect on the English language among children in infant classes.
However, Gaelscoileanna Teo, the national co-ordinating body for schools teaching through Irish, have expressed dismay at the decision, which they feel is not based on research but on presumption. They have called for a national survey to see if the immersion system is having a negative effect on the English language and say that any decision regarding the future of this system should be based on the results of this research.
Art Ó Súilleabháin, who is the manager of Scoil Raifteirí in Castlebar, told The Mayo News that he feels it is a retrograde step against the values and ideals of all gaelscoileanna.
“All children have English as their first language and when you are trying to introduce a child to a new language the most effective way to do it is through total immersion. Going back and over between English and Irish will confuse the pupils and it goes against the whole point of immersion. If you have a situation in a class where a teacher speaks English a child will think I should also speak English, this is why they need to be immersed in Irish. When you immerse people in a language they will learn it and it doesn’t mean they are losing out on their main language or will forget it.”
Mr Ó Súilleabháin also feels that the announcement is not supportive of the Irish language but he is waiting to see the details of the Minister’s plans before passing full judgement.
“In Scoil Raifteirí we have 283 pupils and no subject is taught through English. To do so would be giving mixed signals to the pupils and would confuse them. We don’t yet know the ins and outs of this as the details are vague at present so we won’t be able to decide our course of action until we see the fine print and know what exactly will be expected of us.”