JOINT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND SCIENCE:PRINCIPALS OF multi-ethnic primary schools have warned an Oireachtas committee of the dangers of failing to address the educational needs of children with non-Irish parents.

The five principals told the Joint Committee on Education and Science yesterday it was essential children and their families learned to speak English as soon as possible to help them integrate into Irish society. They also criticised the current model for teaching English to non-English-speaking children.

Tony McGinley, principal of St John the Evangelist NS in Adamstown, west Dublin, said the “English as an Additional Language” (EAL) model was based on immersion in English when the majority of children are English speakers. In this situation, children would normally be proficient in social English within a two-year period.

But 87 per cent of pupils at his school did not have English as a first language. “Where there is not a majority of children to model language we have found after a two-year period the majority of children still require language support,” he said.

He criticised the funding model used by the Department of Education for the EAL programme. He called for additional funding for language teaching for both children and parents. He also told the committee he had an excellent library, but the shelves were empty due to lack of funding.

“If we are serious about creating an inclusive society we must seize this opportunity, otherwise, in years to come, we will regret a lost opportunity to tackle some of the social inclusion difficulties experienced in other countries,’’ he said.

Brendan Forde, principal of St Nicholas’s National School, Claddagh, Co Galway, noted the experience of rioting in France because immigrants had not been properly integrated into society. He said if new policies were not developed for asylum seekers and immigrants “ghettoisation” was going to occur and it was already happening on the east side of Galway.

Treasa Lowe, principal of Scoil Choilm Community National School, in Clonsilla, Dublin 15, said schools needed EAL support for much longer than was allowed under the scheme, until children could fully access the school curriculum through English.

Labour TD Ruairí Quinn noted how in Denmark the children of guest workers who grew up never learning to speak Danish were now perceived as welfare cheats because they could not get work.

“We are going to start harvesting that legacy soon,” he warned. He suggested the Department of Education access funding from the overseas aid budget.

“Many of these people will end up in jail and they will certainly end up on welfare unless we draw down some of this money.”