A report in the Irish journal Tuairisc by Pádraic Ó Ciardha on Tuesday refers to inspections carried out at six all-Irish schools in the course of an overall examination of how the education system is coping with the demands imposed upon them by having to take in more than 18,000 Ukrainian pupils.
According to the report, the schools are being forced to use English in order to cope with the needs of the Ukrainian children and indeed children arriving in the schools from other countries.
Is léir go bhfuil an córas oideachais na Gaeltachtaí agus i ngaelscoileanna lasmuigh na Gaeltachtaí faoi fhíor bhrú.
Tá an méid sin soiléir le tamall anois fiú ag éisteoirí Raidió na Gaeltachta. Mar aon le scoileanna ar fud na tíre bíonn na ngnáth fadhbanna faoi easpa múinteoirí, spásanna, agus araile, ag éirí níos measa mar caithfidh an gcóras oideachais freastal ar na mílte leanaí agus daoine óga atá tar éis ag teacht go hÉirinn ag lorg tearmann.
And what is especially egregious about this is that the children were placed in these schools by the state, who could surely forsee that inevitable outcome.
An rud is suntasach na nach bhfuil na leanaí ón Úcráin agus na tíortha eile i scoileanna lán Gaeilge trí rogha na leanaí féin nó a dtuismitheoirí. Is cuid de na riachtanais atá i bhfeidhm ar gach scoil san stáit chun na daltaí sin a thabhairt isteach – i gceantair áirithe níos mó ná cinn eile, b’fhéidir. Agus mar aon le pobail eile sa tír níl muintir na Gaetachta go léir sásta le sin.
As with other communities there is no instinctive hostility towards children of migrants, and, as has been continuously broadcast, the welcome extended towards those children and their parents has been generally positive. However, the difficulty people have had is that this state – unlike other EU states such as France and Germany which have tacitly or openly set limits – the Irish state has only lately even recognised that there might be issues.
Tá ceisteanna faoi leith a bhaineann le scoileanna lán-Ghaeilge. Bhíos ag éisteacht le clár faoi Ghaelscoil An Ghoirt Álainn in aice leis an sean ‘Tank Field’ agus Cumann CLG Brian Dillons i dtuaisceart cathair Corcaí maidin tráthnóna inné.
Bhí tagairt do leanaí ó thíortha eile ag foghlaim na Gaelann, ach bhí siad ann mar bhí dúil ag a thuismitheoirí sa Gaelann agus sa chultúr. Tá difríocht mhór idir sin agus daoine gan suim ar bith sa teanga a bhrú isteach. Agus ansin bun cúis na scoileanna lán Ghaeilge a chuir bun os cionn.
The report was also discussed on Raidió na Gaeltachta earlier in the week. Fachtna Ó Drisceoil spoke to Bláthnaid Ní Gréachain of Gaeloideachas on Tús Aite about the report. While pointing to the fact that the inspectors only visited a small number of schools she did recognise the problems that exist. She appeared to suggest that the problems might be addressed through extra supports, and a lack of guidelines. She also seems to accept that the responsibility of all Irish schools to accommodate this new demand will be for the long term as it is part of the changing nature of the country and of the education system.
Surely foremost among considerations ought to be that all Irish schools both in the Gaeltachts themselves and in the Gaelscoils outside are neglecting their primary duty which is to provide education to pupils entirely through Irish other than when teaching English as a separate subject? What is their long-term future if they are forced to revert to teach English to children?
Is it the case that the state itself is imposing this burden on Irish schools because basically they have no particular regard for or interest in the survival of all Irish schools or even the Gaeltacht itself? The suspicion that this might be the case is not helped by the state’s overall approach, as concerns have also been raised about housing policy in the Gaeltacht regions.
B’fhéidir nach bhfuil daoine in ann caint faoin Míol Mór i lár an tseomra? Cuir Fachtna ceist ar Bláthnaid “An féidir an dá thrá a fhreastal?” Sin ceist faoi cumas na múinteoraí teagasc a thabhairt as Ghaeilge agus an Béarla do na leanaí a thagann ó tíortha eile. Ina freagra thagair Bláthnaid do na múinteoirí agus riachtanais na leanaí iasachta agus an gá le tacaíocht breise.
Ach cad faoi na leanaí a bhí ann ón dtús agus a thuismitheoirí? Muintir na Gaeltachta? An pobal a rinne rogha chomhfhiosach go mbeadh oideachas ar fail dá bpáistí trí Ghaeilge? B’fhéidir go bhfuil daoine a rá go bhfuil an dualgas céanna ag pobail na Gaelann agus gach duine eile i dtaobh na teifigh. B’fhéidir go bhfuil ár ndualgas mar phobail, mar shaoránaigh na hÉireann, líonta anois? B’fhéidir go gcaithfimid ár suim náisiúnta a chur ar dtús anois.