Schools have been told they cannot award exemptions from learning Irish solely on the basis of psychologists’ reports commissioned by parents which recommend that their children should not have to study the language.
The move to limit exemptions comes as school principals report that they feel under pressure from parents to award exemptions in cases where educational psychologists’ reports – typically costing €700 to €800 – commissioned by the parents recommend exemptions from the study of Irish, citing issues such as learning difficulties or anxiety issues, among other things.
The Department of Education has contacted some schools with high numbers of exemptions to tell them that psychological reports alone “do not meet the criteria for granting an exemption”, according to records seen by The Irish Times.
Instead, schools may grant exemptions only where there are “significant and persistent literacy difficulties” for a student across all subjects, along with documentary evidence such as students’ support plans which show evidence of low test scores in reading, comprehension and other scores of language or literacy.
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[ Schools told not to accept psychologists’ reports for Irish exemptionsOpens in new window ]
The Irish Times conducted a call-out to hear from readers on their views about the issue, with some of the submissions included below.
Anonymous
I have dyslexia and did not receive an Irish exemption. I had to struggle through Irish and French in order to go to university. The study of both subjects had no positive educational outcome. Shortly after my exams I couldn’t speak a word of Irish or French. I passed every Irish exam but could barely speak or understand the language. It was a miserable game I had to play in order to progress my education.
Fourteen years of study and I can barely greet someone in the language. Students with dyslexia are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to the CAO application process. They have to study three languages and often need to make up the bulk of their points from four other subject areas. An exemption from Irish goes some way towards levelling the playing field and allows my fellow dyslexics to demonstrate their talents in subject areas [in which] they can flourish.
‘The country is now diverse, with an increase in learning difficulties’
Gail Fitzgerald, former teacher, Co Westmeath
Continuing to make Irish a compulsory subject and not an optional language just does not make sense any more. The country is now diverse, with an increase in learning difficulties. Challenges with Irish are so detrimental to a student’s confidence and at the end of it all, what is the gain? The Irish agenda blocks diversity in the teaching profession and there are so many parents and children in the country who do not want Irish forced on them. Compulsory Irish at Leaving Cert is a dated, nationalistic and political legacy that does not fit with families in a modern Ireland.
[ More than 20,000 pupils with Irish exemptions studied European languagesOpens in new window ]
‘Neurodivergent students have a right to a holistic education’
Anonymous
Tá ADHD agus disléicse (dyslexia) agam, ach ag an am céanna rinne mé ‘go maith’ ar scoil. Mar chailín ag fás aníos i rith na 90í - 00í ní raibh mórán tuisceana ag múinteoirí agus ag an gcóras oideachais ar chailín cliste le mo mhíbhuntáistí agus ní raibh mórán tacaíochtaí ar fáil dom.
D’athraigh gach rud dom nuair a d’fhreastail mé ar chúrsa samhraidh - ní raibh an bhéim ar ghramadach, litriú, agus foghlaim de ghlanmheabhair ach ar theanga bheo. Bhíomar ag cumarsáid, ag caint agus ag déanamh botún le chéile. Thug an samhradh sin na ‘building blocks’ chun dul chun cinn dom.
I have ADHD and am dyslexic, but at the same time I did ‘well’ at school. As girl growing up during the 90s-00s, teachers and the education system had little understanding of a clever girl with my disadvantages, and there were very few supports available to me.
Everything changed when I attended a summer course – the emphasis wasn’t on grammar, spelling, or rote learning, but on learning Irish as a living language. We were communicating, talking and making mistakes together. That summer gave me the ‘building blocks’ I needed to make progress.
Bíonn fearg agus frustrachas orm le córais dhochta a deir nach bhfuil ach slí amháin rud le déanamh. Foghlaimímid go léir ar bhealach difriúil. Tá buanna agus láidreachtaí difriúla ag muintir néar-éagsúil (neurodiverse) is ag muintir néar-thipiciúil (neurotypical). Ba chóir go n-oibreodh an córas le haghaidh cách.
Is díomá ollmhór é go ndeireann an córas oideachais, príomhoidí agus múinteoirí go bhfuil easpa oideachas teanga ina réiteach oiriúnach le haghaidh mic léinn néar-éagsúil. Tá ceart ag na mic léinn seo ar oideachas iomlánaíoch.
Cinnte tá mic léinn le deacrachtaí litearthachta agus tá gá le córas speisialaithe a mhúineann an teanga agus cultúr dóibh. Ach is féidir le mórán mac léinn néar-éagsúil rath a bhaint amach le córas tuisceana agus múinteoirí oilte.
I get angry and frustrated with rigid systems that say there is only one way of doing things. We all learn differently. Neurodiverse people have different strengths and talents than neurotypical people. The system should work for everyone.
It is a huge disappointment that the education system, principals, and teachers say that the absence of [Irish] language education is a suitable solution for neurodiverse students. These students have a right to a holistic education.
Certainly, there are students with literacy difficulties, and there is a need for a specialised system that teaches them language and culture. But many neurodivergent students can have success with a system of understanding and fully trained teachers.
‘My son struggles massively with literacy’
Eimear, Co Dublin
I am the mother of a nine-year-old boy who is autistic and dyslexic. He currently attends a reading school [a national school for children with significant dyslexia] and could only access that school based on the report from an educational psychologist. My son struggles massively with literacy, he is illiterate and this impacts other subjects. It’s a huge effort to get through basic work in English and Maths, let alone other subjects.
I love Irish but currently we do not have the capacity to support him with it. The reading school does expose the kids to Irish, but not formally. At home, I hope to gradually expose him to spoken Irish but believe formal tuition would be too stressful.
‘A priority should be to help students to speak the language’
Owen Doyle, Co Kildare
The way the Irish language was taught in school to me made it extremely unattractive and difficult to learn. A priority now should be to help students to speak the language. Any individual who applies for or obtains an exemption from studying Irish should be prohibited from studying any foreign language in secondary school. If they have a literacy issue, how then can they study a foreign language? Our native language is our identity, once lost, it will be gone forever.
‘The Irish education system is very difficult for children with dyslexia to navigate’
Sinéad
I have three children with dyslexia – aged 12, 16 and 18. All have Irish exemptions. Articles like this are very unhelpful . . . The Irish education system is very difficult for children with dyslexia to navigate. There is always someone looking to take advantage of the disadvantaged, however this is a very one-sided perspective. Irish exemptions are difficult to get and once they have been granted the children are regularly sidelined within the classroom with little or nothing to do while the other children are learning Irish.
Primary schoolteachers are generally very “enthusiastic” about Irish, so more often than not Irish exemptions are the last resort and not an easy option to gain points. I have a Leaving Cert student who has very significant self-confidence issues and anxiety because she spent years sitting at the side of a classroom unable to participate with her peers.
‘Making Irish compulsory is a mistake’
Ute Duane, retired teacher, Co Meath
Irish should not be compulsory for the Leaving Cert in the first place. I did Irish for my Leaving Cert and did the oral to become a secondary teacher. I did not have any particular difficulty with Irish but making it compulsory is a mistake. Students come into secondary school hating Irish and making them study it beyond Junior Cycle is limiting their choice of subjects for the Leaving Cert.
Most students sit seven subjects in the Leaving Cert, with points from the best six being used for entry to college. Irish, English and Maths are compulsory. Entry to NUI colleges requires a modern foreign language. This leaves them very few options to follow their passion. I believe that the standard of Irish would improve enormously if only those who liked it or needed it for their chosen career were to study it.
‘My daughter cried many evenings with her Irish homework’
Aileen Murray, Co Meath
My nine-year-old daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2023 after years of difficulty in school . . . She cried many evenings with her Irish homework. While she struggled with many aspects of her homework, it was Irish in particular that she found difficult. We told her when she was diagnosed and she said she was relieved to know that there was a reason for her difficulties in school compared to her friends. Dyslexia not only affects her reading and writing ability but working memory, organisation and planning ability. Having seen how much she struggled in just English, my husband and I made the decision to apply for an Irish exemption.
Her principal was very kind and helpful. It has been almost 18 months and we do believe we made the right decision for her. I would be concerned if these exemptions were lifted. Persons with dyslexia struggle with the English language alone. I value our Irish language and was disappointed that this will limit her in some ways, for example the wonderful weeks I spent in the Gaeltacht as a teenager. I know, however, I made the right decision for her.
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