Ireland plans to introduce foreign language teaching in primary schools from 2026, starting with basic awareness and greetings in third to sixth class. Teachers will receive training over several years to teach languages like French, German, and Spanish. The move aims to address concerns about declining European language learning at secondary level.
The draft primary syllabus states that classroom teachers will be expected to teach foreign languages from third to sixth class when it rolls out from 2026. Photograph: iStockteachers will get training over several years to teach foreign languages such as French, German and Spanish over the coming years as part of a planned shake-up of the curriculum.
Under the draft plans, foreign languages would be introduced to schools on a phased basis and upskilling for teachers would take place over a five-to-six year period.McEntee to push ahead with €9m smartphone pouches plan despite study casting doubt over their merits About 1,400 Irish primary schools are, in the meantime, participating in a “Say Yes to Languages” sample module, which began in 2021. It runs for 10-weeks and offers schools a choice of up to 16 languages. into the redeveloped primary school curriculum found that while many commended the plans as “exciting and timely”, concerns were raised by some who were worried about teachers’ proficiency in French, German and other languages.
Some also noted that under time allocations set out in the draft curriculum, the amount of time dedicated to teaching Irish would reduce from 3½ to three hours per week in English-medium schools. The move to introduce foreign languages at primary comes at a time of concern at a drop-off in the proportion of students learning European languages at second level.candidates sitting exams in foreign languages over the last five years, down from 75 per cent to 65 per cent.
FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRIMARY SCHOOLS IRELAND CURRICULUM TEACHER TRAINING
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