ETBI Journal of Education - Vol 2:2 November 2020 (Irish-medium Education)

ETBI Journal of Education November 2020
Update on the implementation of the Policy
for Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022
Dr Treasa Kirk Department of Education
Dr Gerry Shiel Educational Research Centre
UPDATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
POLICY ON GAELTACHT EDUCATION 2017-
2022
Much progress has been made on the
implementation of the various actions of the
Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022 since
the establishment of the Gaeltacht Education
Unit in the Department of Education and Skills
in 2017. The overarching goal of the policy is
to ensure that there is access to high quality
Irish-medium education in Gaeltacht languageplanning
areas, in order to support the use of
Irish as the principal language of Gaeltacht
communities.
PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
GAELTACHT SCHOOL RECOGNITION SCHEME
Since the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme
was launched in April 2017, a wide variety
of resources have been provided annually to
schools participating in the Scheme to support
the provision of a high standard of Irish-medium
education for Gaeltacht students. Additional
support hours for Irish were provided for each
school, relative to school size, as part of a support
package for schools to meet the language needs of
students - native Irish speakers and learners of
the language.
THE DEPARTMENT IS FULLY
COMMITTED TO IMPLEMENTING
THE MEASURES CONTAINED
IN THE POLICY ON GAELTACHT
EDUCATION 2017-2022
Annual circulars are published on the
Department of Education’s website to guide the
implementation of the Recognition Scheme in
Gaeltacht schools. Currently, 105 primary schools 1
and 29 post-primary schools 2 in the Gaeltacht
are participating in the Scheme. This includes 19
post-primary schools under the patronage of six
different ETBs.
A team of inspectors are available to support the
work of the Gaeltacht Education Unit and part of
their work involved conducting over 500 advisory
visits to primary and post-primary schools in the
Gaeltacht in the period between September 2017
and February 2020. Annual guides for schools
on the advisory visits have been published by
the Department to support schools in meeting
1 105 primary schools = 80% of primary schools located in
Gaeltacht language-planning areas
2 29 post-primary schools = 100% ofl post-primary schools
located in Gaeltacht language-planning areas
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