Gaelcholáiste’s future at a critical juncture

A survey on the future of Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, which stands on the campus of Ennis Community College, indicates very strong support for the availability of Irish-medium education at second-level.
It also indicates strong support for moving the Gaelcholáiste to its own campus, while a minority favours either independent status and remaining on the current campus or staying as it is, a unit operating within the community college.
The survey was conducted by County Clare Vocational Education Committee, with the assistance of an external researcher, to assess the demand in the county for second-level education entirely through Irish.
As a unit of the community college, the latter a DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) status school in the centre of Ennis, the Gaelcholáiste has 137 pupils and an average yearly intake of 30, three-quarters of whom transfer from the Gaelscoileanna throughout the county.
The survey report was presented to the October meeting of the VEC but a decision on the matter was deferred until its next meeting. Two key aims were central to the survey. Firstly, to estimate demands for places at the Gaelcholáiste over the next eight years and, secondly, to get the public’s views on its current status and how it might change in the future.
Prior to the survey, there appeared to be two distinct views, says the survey report. One emphasised the benefits of its current location, which allows access to excellent resources and facilities provided by the community college and the other emphasising the disadvantage of its location, which has prevented the entity from establishing full immersion education and creating its own ethos and identity.
Survey findings indicate: 88% of the 854 respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Irish medium education should be available at second-level; 69% agreed or strongly agreed that the Gaelcholáiste should move to its own campus; 28% agreed or strongly agreed that it should have independent status while remaining on the present campus; 26% agreed or strongly agreed that it should stay as it is, ie, a unit operating within the community college.
Based on data obtained from three sources, the report estimates that the Gaelcholáiste will grow from its current enrolment of 137 to 208 students in 2019, further expanding to 242 in 2021.
These figures may be underestimated, the report comments, pointing to Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, for example, which has expanded rapidly since it became a standalone, independent school. Furthermore, a 2004 report indicated a higher transfer from English medium primary schools to independent all-Irish second-level Gaelcholáistí compared to the transfer rate to units, which is the category of the Ennis entity’s present standing.
Four reasons were identified by the survey why parents are reluctant to enrol their children in the Gaelcholáiste at present but the survey considers none of these factors is viewed as insurmountable if the academy could offer other benefits.
The reasons advanced for parental reluctance are a feeling that children from English-medium schools do not have a sufficient grasp of Irish at the end of primary schooling to cope with Irish-medium education at second-level; concern that they will not be able to help their children with homework; transport and lack of available information about the benefits of attending the Gaelcholáiste.
In December of last year, the Government launched a 20-year strategy for the Irish language, which strongly promotes the tongue and sets out an ambitious plan to increase threefold the number of Irish speakers to 250,000.
“It is difficult to see how this can be achieved without access to education through the medium of Irish,” the report states.
On the broader picture, the survey report notes how future configuration of vocational education committees recently became clearer. A new Education and Training Board for the Mid-West is to be established comprising County Clare, County Limerick and City of Limerick Vocational Education Committees. This entity, the report forecasts, is likely to be in place by the end of next year.
It adds that in 2006, when Limerick City committee established a very successful standalone and independent Gaelcholáiste, it began with 30 students and now attracts over 100 applicants annually, with an intake of 80. “This positive experience might either encourage the Department of Education and Skills to establish a similar entity in Clare or the view may be taken that the new region already has a standalone Gaelcholáiste with the capacity to become a much bigger entity,” concluded the survey report.