Gaelscoil
Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates A Gaelscoil (Script error: No such module "IPA".; plural: Script error: No such module "Lang".) is an Irish language-medium school in Ireland; the term refers especially to Irish-medium schools outside the Irish-speaking regions or Gaeltacht. Over 50,000 students attend Gaelscoileanna at primary and second levels on the island of Ireland.[1] Additionally, more than 13,000 students are receiving their primary and second level education through Irish in the Gaeltacht.[2] Script error: No such module "Lang". and Irish-medium schools in the Gaeltacht are supported and represented by Gaeloideachas and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta or COGG in the Republic of Ireland and by Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta in Northern Ireland. The largest patron body of Script error: No such module "Lang". in the Republic of Ireland is An Foras Pátrúnachta, although the vast majority of schools under their patronage are at primary level.
Students in the Script error: No such module "Lang". acquire the Irish language through language immersion, and study the standard curriculum through it. Gaelscoileanna, unlike English-medium schools, have the reputation of producing competent Irish speakers.[3] English-medium schools, in contrast, produce relatively few fluent Irish speakers, despite the Irish language being an obligatory subject in the Republic of Ireland in both primary and secondary school. This has been attributed in part to the lack of Irish-language immersion programs.[4]
Gaelscoileanna have undergone a striking expansion over the last few decades, although there are now concerns that rules limiting the founding of new schools are affecting the establishment of new Irish-medium education in areas where there is competition amongst educational patrons. Their success is due to effective (though limited) community support and an efficient administrative infrastructure. They are distinguished by being the product, not of state policy, but of a genuine community movement.
In 1972, there were only 11 such schools at primary level and five at secondary level in the Republic of Ireland. As of September 2023, there were 188 Script error: No such module "Lang". at primary level, attended by over 40,000 students, and 32 Script error: No such module "Lang". and 17 Script error: No such module "Lang". (Irish language units) at secondary level, attended by over 12,000 students in non-Gaeltacht areas across Ireland.[2] 35 of these primary schools, two of the postprimary schools and four of the postprimary units operated are in Northern Ireland.[2] Additionally, some 4,000 children attend Irish-medium preschools or Naíonrai outside the Gaeltacht with around 1,000 children attending Naíonraí within the Gaeltacht.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". There is now at least one Script error: No such module "Lang". in every county in Ireland with over 50 in County Dublin; 30 in County Cork and 13 in County Antrim included.
Social status and function
Script error: No such module "Lang". have acquired a reputation for providing excellent academic results at a moderate cost. They have been described as a system of "positive social selection" giving better than average access to tertiary education and the social and employment opportunities which follow. An analysis of "feeder" schools which send students on to tertiary level institutions shows that 22% of Irish-medium schools send all their students on to tertiary level, compared to 7% of English-medium schools.[5]
Supporters argue that the bilingualism resulting from early acquisition of another language is of general intellectual benefit and helps children to learn still other languages. Irish-language advocates of the immersion approach sometimes refer to studies showing that bilingual children have advantages over monoglot children in other subjects.[6]
Statistics
| Primary level | Republic of Ireland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (primary) students | 35,850 | 5,113 |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (primary) schools | 143 | 35 |
| Total primary students | 536,747 | 168,669 |
| Total primary schools | 3,137 | 827 |
| Percentage Script error: No such module "Lang". students | 6% | 2.1% |
| Percentage Script error: No such module "Lang". schools | 8.6% | 4.4% |
| Sources:[7][8][9] | ||
By province (primary level)
- Leinster – 19,331 primary students attend 71 Script error: No such module "Lang"..[10]
- Ulster – 6,801 primary students attend 45 Script error: No such module "Lang"..[10]
- Munster – 11,332 primary students attend 44 Script error: No such module "Lang"..[10]
- Connacht – 3,509 primary students attend 18 Script error: No such module "Lang"..[10]
Post-primary education through Irish
A secondary-level Script error: No such module "Lang". located in a non-Script error: No such module "Lang". area is commonly known as a Script error: No such module "Lang"..[11] There are 32 Script error: No such module "Lang". and 17 second-level Irish language units (Script error: No such module "Lang".) on the island of Ireland, attended by over 12,000 students. Close to 4,000 further students receive their second-level education through Irish in the Script error: No such module "Lang"..[2]
Two new second-level Script error: No such module "Lang". opened in Ireland in 2014: Script error: No such module "Lang". in Balbriggan and Script error: No such module "Lang". in Rathfarnham (both in County Dublin). Script error: No such module "Lang". opened in Carrigaline and Northern Ireland's second Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang". opened in Dungiven Castle in 2015. Script error: No such module "Lang". opened in Knocknaheeney in 2019. Script error: No such module "Lang". opened in Maynooth in September 2020.[12]
Gaelcholáistí are supported and represented on a practical day-to-day basis by Gaeloideachas (who also support Irish-medium schools in the Gaeltacht) and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta (whose name translates into English as "The Council for Gaeltacht and Gaelscoileanna Education") or COGG in the Republic of Ireland and by Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta in Northern Ireland.
In 2023 An Foras Pátrúnacha revealed that there is a demand for 7 new Script error: No such module "Lang". in the Republic of Ireland[13] and in 2021 Script error: No such module "Lang". revealed that there is a demand for 3 new Script error: No such module "Lang". in Northern Ireland.[14]
List of Gaelcholáistí
| School name | Location | County | Region | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Ailigh | Letterkenny | Donegal | Republic of Ireland | [15] |
| Coláiste Chilliain | Clondalkin | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [16] |
| Coláiste Cois Life | Lucan | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [17] |
| Coláiste Eoin | Booterstown | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [18] |
| Coláiste Feirste | Belfast | Antrim | Northern Ireland | [19] |
| Coláiste Ghlór na Mara | Balbriggan | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [20] |
| Coláiste Mhuire | Cabra | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [21] |
| Coláiste Ráithín | Bray | Wicklow | Republic of Ireland | [22] |
| Coláiste an Eachréidh | Athenry | Galway | Republic of Ireland | [23] |
| Coláiste an Phiarsaigh | Cork | Cork | Republic of Ireland | [24] |
| Coláiste de hÍde | Tallaght | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [25] |
| Coláiste na Coiribe | Galway | Galway | Republic of Ireland | [26] |
| Coláiste na Tulchann | Clonsilla | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [27] |
| Coláiste Íosagáin | Booterstown | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [28] |
| Gaelcholáiste Charraig Uí Leighin | Cork | Cork | Republic of Ireland | [29] |
| Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach | Carlow | Carlow | Republic of Ireland | [30] |
| Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí | Tralee | Kerry | Republic of Ireland | [31] |
| Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara | Naas | Kildare | Republic of Ireland | [32] |
| Gaelcholáiste Chéitinn | CTI Clonmel | Tipperary | Republic of Ireland | [33][34] |
| Gaelcholáiste Choilm | Cork | Cork | Republic of Ireland | |
| Gaelcholáiste Dhoire | Dungiven | Londonderry | Northern Ireland | [35] |
| Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh | Limerick | Limerick | Republic of Ireland | [36] |
| Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad | Maynooth | Kildare | Republic of Ireland | [12] |
| Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne | Knocknaheeny | Cork | Republic of Ireland | [37] |
| Gaelcholáiste Mhuire (A.G.) | Cork | Cork | Republic of Ireland | [38] |
| Gaelcholáiste Reachrann | Donaghmede | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [39] |
| Gaelcholáiste na Mara | Arklow | Wicklow | Republic of Ireland | [40] |
| Gaelcoláiste an Phiarsaigh | Rathfarnham | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [41] |
| Meanscoil Gharman | Enniscorthy | Wexford | Republic of Ireland | [42] |
| Scoil Chaitríona | Glasnevin | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | [43] |
Strategy proposals
The function and future of Gaelscoileanna in the Republic of Ireland falls within the scope of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, published by the then-Irish government in December 2010. This report emphasises the importance of offering all children in primary schools in Ireland the opportunity to experience partial immersion in the formative years of primary education. It calls for primary teachers to have additional immersion classes to improve their competence in the language. This would involve teaching some subjects such as Mathematics and Science in Irish.[44]
See also
- An Foras Pátrúnachta
- Calandreta, bilingual French-Occitan school in Occitania, France
- Diwan (school) – Breton medium education in Brittany
- Education in the Republic of Ireland
- Education in Northern Ireland
- French immersion in Canada
- Gaelic medium education in Scotland – Scottish Gaelic equivalent in Scotland
- Ikastola, similar education centre in Basque language
- Kōhanga reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori, Māori language immersion schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand
- La Bressola, a bilingual French-Catalan school network in Northern Catalonia, France
- List of Irish medium primary schools in Northern Ireland
- Medium of instruction
- Official Languages Act 2003
- Welsh medium education
References
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External links
- List of Gaelscoileanna in Ireland (Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland)
- Gaelscoileanna.ie (website of Gaelscoileanna Teo)
- Stats on Gaeltacht schools 2004
- Gaeltacht Comprehensive Language Study 2007
- Gaelscoil stats 2010–2011
- Republic of Ireland Census 2006 – daily speakers outside education system
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