The Irish Language: Endangered and Endangered

The Irish Language in Education

The Irish government has had constant efforts in place since independence towards laying a strong foundation to the Irish language as the national and traditional language. The main target has been the education sector in fostering and steering the teaching and speaking of Irish language in all education institutions. O’Muiri in the Government launch new “action plan” for Irish language, argues that despite the installation of the 20-Year strategy plan to encourage the speaking of the language, little improvement has been realized[1]. Young people of less than 18 years of age still graduate school having scanty knowledge of the Irish language, both written and spoken. According to ”Central Statistics Office Ireland” as at 2016, almost 70 percent of the total Ireland population are not able to write or speak in Irish. In light of the unsatisfactory outcomes, the government and the education sector have the mandate to employ pragmatic strategies to rekindle the Irish language.

The Over-reliance on English in Schools

The paramount reason for the unsuccessful efforts in promoting the Irish language is the over-reliance and emphasis of the English language in schools. ”Central Statistics Office Ireland” suggest that as at 2016, 32 percent of the total population in Gaeltacht only speak Irish outside school environment[2]. The information confirms the sense in which the education sector is failing the government in driving the 20-year strategy plan for Irish language. Teachers in primary and middle schools are emphasizing more on grammar; hence the Irish is not recognized in communication and teaching in the education system as argued by McDonnel in the Irish Language endangered by austerity measures(2012)

Lack of Coherent Teaching Mechanisms

Further according to the essay ”20-year strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030” (p. 5) there is insufficiency and lack of coherent and productive mechanisms of teaching Irish in schools. According to a census conducted on 2011 and 2016 by the Irish Ministry of Education, there has been a dramatic 11.17 percent decrease in the number of active Irish speakers between the two years; the most affected region being the Gaeltacht regions. The decrease was realized amidst the peak of the implementation of the 20- year strategy plan[3]. The same report also indicated that teachers have not been accorded the necessary resources and tools to teach Irish language.

Lack of Qualified Irish Language Teachers

There is significant lack of Irish language experts in schools which contributed to the slow and unproductive drive of the Irish language agenda. In addition, according to ”Irish in the primary schools” by the Department of Science and Education (p.15), one of the most pertinent quality is the teachers’ level of competence in the Irish language; both in teaching and speaking. Further, the teachers ought to possess adequate knowledge in handling children at primary school level and teaching effectively. Unfortunately, only 22 percent of the Irish primary teachers have attained high standard of spoken Irish[4]. The data demonstrates a challenge in the education system concerning the availability of enough qualified Irish teachers.

The Decline of Irish Speakers

The number of Irish speakers has greatly decreased drastically in the last ten years and it’s still going down. However, it is crucial to recognize and appreciate a few effort that the education system has made. McDonnel argues that in reference to the 1920s, the Irish speakers have been boosted from 20 percent of the total population to the current 40 percent. It is a demonstration of the potential of the education system that Irish can be restored as a symbol of national and traditional pride. However, overall statistics denote that since the introduction of the 2010-2030 Irish strategy, the number of Irish speakers continue to dwindle.

The New Action Plan

As stated by McDonnel’s ”Irish Language endangered by austerity measures ” the 20-year strategy formulated in 2010 was made primarily to meet two goals by the end of the year 2030; to boost the number of the daily Irish speakers outside the education sector to 250,000, and to increase the speakers located in Gaeltacht regions by 25%. The target only amounts to an approximately 7 percent of the projected Irish populations by 2030. Given the current statistics, the government has come up with new strategies which will help rekindle and revive Irish language.

Enhancing Irish Education in Gaeltacht Regions

According to Progress Report: 2010 to 2015 of the 20-year strategy (p.2), in 2014 the Department of Education made a review of the Gaeltacht education which had previously recorded the least number of Irish speakers. Due to challenges facing Gaeltacht such as remoteness and economic downfall, the government came into an agreement to enhance Irish education system in these regions. The goals of that policy was to find an alternative way to foster and drive Irish language in primary and post-primary schools[5]. In addition, the policy was also intended in making Irish language the medium of communication both inside and outside of schools in Gaeltacht. Continuous consultation meetings organized by the ministry of education and Arts have been made every years to review the progress of primary education in Gaeltacht and the policy seems fruitful.

The 2018-2022 Action Plan

According to the ”Action plan: 2018-2022” by the Department of Culture and Heritage, the 20-year strategy is not bearing substantive results with an 11.2 percent reduction in the number of Irish speakers from 2011 to 2016, hence the government recently formulated Action Plan 2018-2022, a 5-years term in collaboration with the Department of Culture and heritage. The main objectives of this short term plan is promote a coherent, measurable, achievable and realistic goals by end of 2022. Further, the strategy focusses on enhancing more engagement and constant consultation in support of the 20-year strategy in relation to Irish language[6]. In addition, the strategy will ensure more vibrant evaluation and assessment of the implementation of 2010-2030 action plan among other objectives.

Improving the Irish Curriculum

In 2016 as stated in the ”Action Plan: 2018-2022’ (p.3) the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) came up with a new drafted integrated language curriculum focused to facilitate teaching of Irish language at different levels and stages in primary schools. In addition, the new curriculum separated the Irish and English languages so that the two are taught as separate disciplines. The new language curriculum was actualized from the infant classes to the second classes in September, 2016. The department is also working on realizing the curriculum for the third class up to the sixth class expected to be implemented by the end of 2018[7].

The Progress of the Action Plan

The progress and reception of the new action plan in doing well in reference to the assessment results released by the Department of Education and Skills. There has been increased community support of the policy through government awareness and education; the community is in support of the program not only to support Irish as a language but also as a symbol of cultural and national pride[8]. Further, the advantage of this 2018-2022 program comes from the fact that it is a short term plan which is measurable, achievable and realistic as opposed to the 20-year strategy which to date has not produced a substantive result as argued in the ”Irish in the Primary School” by the Department of Science and Education (p.12).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the nation is so far making a significant effort with regard to reviving the Irish language. In reference to the recent founding of the 5-year action plan, a lot of improvement has been realized in a short period. However, there is much more that needs to be put in place in order to ensure that the 20- year plan remains on course. I would recommend introduction of adult classes so that people who didn’t get lucky to learn Irish language in school get an opportunity to learn. If the new 5 year term strategy goals are met by end of 2022, there will be a high potential to meet the 2010-2030 plan.

References

1. O’Muiri, P. Government launch new ”action plan” for Irish language [internet]. The Irish News: 2018 [updated 2018 June 29; cited 2018 November 11]. Available from: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/government-launch-new-action-plan-for-irish-language-1.3548174

2. McDonnel, F. Irish Language endangered by austerity measures [internet]: The Irish News: 2012 [Cited 2018, November 11]. Available from: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/irish-language-endangered-by-austerity-measures-1.476190

3. Department of Education and Skills. 20-year strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030. Available from: https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/20-Year-Strategy-for-the-Irish-Language-2010-to-2030-Progress-Report-July-2013-Sept-2014.pdf

4. Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht. Action Plan 2018-2022 [internet]: 2018 [cited 2018 November 11] Available from: https://www.chg.gov.ie/gaeltacht/20-year-strategy-for-the-irish-language-2010-2030/action-plan-2018-2022/

5.Irish Sun Online, THE Government today launches its Five Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022 [internet]; The Irish Sun; 2018 [cited 2018 Nov 11]. Available from: https://www.thesun.ie/news/2778439/government-five-year-irish-language-plan/

6. 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language [Internet]. Government of Ireland; 2010 [cited 2018 Nov 11]. Available from: https://www.chg.gov.ie/app/uploads/2015/07/20-Year-Strategy-English-version.pdf

7. Central Statistics Office Ireland, the Irish Language [internet] 2018 [cited 2018 November 11] Available from: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp10esil/p10esil/ilg/

8. Department of Education and Science. Irish in the Primary School [Book] Inspectorate Evaluation Studies. Evaluation support and Research Unit Inspectorate; 2007. 1-30. 

[1] O’Muiri, P. Government launch new ”action plan” for Irish language [internet]. The Irish News: 2018 [updated 2018 June 29; cited 2018 November 11]. Available from: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/government-launch-new-action-plan-for-irish-language-1.3548174

[2] McDonnel, F. Irish Language endangered by austerity measures [internet]: The Irish News: 2012 [Cited 2018, November 11]. Available from: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/irish-language-endangered-by-austerity-measures-1.476190

[3] Department of Education and Skills. 20-year strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030. Available from: https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/20-Year-Strategy-for-the-Irish-Language-2010-to-2030-Progress-Report-July-2013-Sept-2014.pdf

[4] Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht. Action Plan 2018-2022 [internet]: 2018 [cited 2018 November 11] Available from: https://www.chg.gov.ie/gaeltacht/20-year-strategy-for-the-irish-language-2010-2030/action-plan-2018-2022/

[5] Irish Sun Online, THE Government today launches its Five Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022 [internet]; The Irish Sun; 2018 [cited 2018 Nov 11]. Available from: https://www.thesun.ie/news/2778439/government-five-year-irish-language-plan/

[6] Year Strategy for the Irish Language [Internet]. Government of Ireland; 2010 [cited 2018 Nov 11]. Available from: https://www.chg.gov.ie/app/uploads/2015/07/20-Year-Strategy-English-version.pdf

[7]Central Statistics Office Ireland, the Irish Language [internet] 2018 [cited 2018 November 11] Available from: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp10esil/p10esil/ilg/

[8] Department of Education and Science. Irish in the Primary School [Book] Inspectorate Evaluation Studies. Evaluation support and Research Unit Inspectorate; 2007. 1-30.