Teacher shortages leave Irish-medium pupils with fewer A-level options

Some Irish language schools have to limit the number of A-levels pupils choose from due to a shortage of Irish-speaking teachers.

Assembly members were told of the challenge by principal of Coláiste Feirste in Belfast, Micheál Mac Giolla Ghunna.

"Irish medium education is not always a translation of English medium education," he told MLAs.

"It's a different way of approaching the development of skills, understanding and knowledge within the classroom."

The number of pupils in Irish-medium schools has risen substantially over the past 25 years.

The Education Minister Paul Givan has previously acknowledged that teachers face "considerable workload pressures" in Irish medium schools.

Givan has also introduced a bursary to help address the shortage of Irish-medium, and Science and Technology teachers.

The Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan has introduced a private members bill to require the Department of Education (DE) to prepare a workforce plan for Irish-medium education.

MLAs on Stormont's Education Committee heard evidence from Mac Giolla Ghunna and the principal of Gaelcholáiste Dhoire, Diarmaid Ua Bruadair.

The presentation from the principals was delivered in Irish, with simultaneous English translation provided during the hearing.

Some MLAs on the committee, including Sheehan, also spoke in Irish.

Mac Giolla Ghunna said that students in Irish-medium schools "should have the same access to subject specific teachers and specialists as students in English-medium schools".

"They should have the same access to curriculum, and to qualifications," he said.

He said that pupil numbers at Coláiste Feirste had grown substantially to over 1000, but the school could only offer a limited number of subjects at A-level due to a lack of specialist teachers.

"We are developing apprenticeships through the Irish language but the biggest challenge is finding specialists who can teach those qualifications at a high level," he said.

"At present Coláiste Feirste can offer between 25 and 27 qualifications at GCSE with many non-specialists, but the A-level curriculum has been limited to 15 subjects for some years now."

Many post-primaries offer more that 20 subjects at A-level.

Mac Giolla Ghunna also said that due to a lack of Irish-speaking staff at the Northern Ireland exams board, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), there was a lack of resources for pupils in Irish.

Ua Bruadair, meanwhile, told MLAs that his school had to "twist and turn" to get support for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

He said that Gaelcholáiste Dhoire worked with English-language schools in the area to share best practice.

"In some ways, Irish-medium schools are a bit like the canary in the coal mine," he said.

"The issues that we experience very, very strongly are soon going to be experienced by the wider educational sector.

"So I'm sure that some of the issues that we are talking about today resonate with some principals in English-medium schools.

"But obviously, you know, we've been feeling that pinch for much longer."