Madam, - I am deeply concerned by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin's circular requiring gaelscoileanna to teach English for 30 minutes each day from the infant years (The Irish Times, July 27th).
It is hard to conceive of her motivation for such a move and in many respects it feels like an unwarranted attack on a system that is clearly working so well. It is widely accepted that most children attending gaelscoileanna come from English-speaking homes. In order to create the artificial school situation where all children will communicate with each other in work and in play through Irish it is necessary that in this space - i.e., the infant classroom - English simply does not exist. The teacher is integral at redirecting the flow of conversation, repeating the missing words and phrases in Irish.
If the children know that the teacher can in fact speak and understand English, it is the most normal thing in the world for them to revert to English. International research (in the absence of available Irish research) on the subject suggests that the most effective system is immersion education or "tumoideas".
Also this week, Pól Ó Muirí writes in Tuarascáil of a (yet unpublished) Government-commissioned report into the decline of Irish in the Gaeltacht. The report predicts that Irish has a maximum of only 15 to 20 years left as the main language spoken in even the strongest Gaeltacht areas of the country.
I believe that gaelscoileanna are the single most positive development as regards Irish in recent years. If we think it is worth doing at all, let's do it properly. - Yours, etc,
GRACE NÍ CHOILIGH, Gáirdíní Maretimo Thoir, An Charraig Dhubh, Co Átha Cliath.