A chara, – Your report on the increasing numbers of students being granted exemptions from studying Irish at second level raises a number of questions (“High levels of exemptions from studying Irish at second-level schools queried by officials”, News, January 2nd).
The two main reasons cited by principals are the increase in foreign-born students attending Irish schools and the increasing numbers of students being assessed as having special needs. It is difficult to see the justification for exemptions on either of these grounds.
There are numerous examples around the country of “foreign” students, many of them coming from multi-lingual backgrounds, who have excelled at Irish in State examinations. Regarding students with special needs, apart from this covering a wide range of different needs, there is the fact that Irish can be taught and examined at various levels of ability. The attitude should be one of catering for these students rather than exempting them.
What undermines the credibility of the whole system is the number of students exempted from Irish who nevertheless are judged capable of successfully studying other second languages. There is no mention of this odd phenomenon in your report.
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When contacted by the Department officials, the principals of schools with abnormally high numbers of exemptions should have been asked how many of their exempted students are studying other second languages, and what is it about Irish that makes it peculiarly unsuitable for them.
Since the foundation of the State, Irish has been a core subject in our school curriculum and it is recognised in our Constitution as our national language and as one of the two official languages of the State. Its position as a core subject should be guarded by the Department of Education and not allowed to be insidiously undermined by what appears to be another Irish solution to an Irish problem. – Is mise,
JOHN GLENNON,
Hollywood,
Co Wicklow.
