All your education questions answered by Brian Mooney

Could you explain the regulations governing exemptions from Irish, as they effect both my child's entitlement to be exempted from Irish in school, and her college options following the completion of her Leaving Certificate?

The issue of exemptions from studying Irish in our primary and second level schools is a very sensitive one. There is a concern among senior officials in the Department of Education that some parents who do not wish their children to study Irish are attempting to gain exemptions where they are not justified under the regulations.

The Department will allow a child to be exempted from Irish if they are:

A - Pupils whose primary education up to 11 years of age was received in Northern Ireland or outside Ireland.

B - Pupils who were previously enrolled as recognised pupils in a primary or second-level school who are being re-enrolled after a period spent abroad, provided that at least three years have elapsed since the previous enrolment in the State and the pupil is at least 11 years of age on re-enrolment.

C - Pupils (i) who function intellectually at average or above average level but have a specific learning disability of such a degree of severity that they fail to achieve expected levels of attainment in basic language skills in the mother tongue, or (ii) who have been assessed as having a general learning disability due to serious intellectual impairment and are also failing to attain adequate levels in basic language skills in the mother tongue, or (iii) who have been assessed as having a general learning disability due to serious sensory impairment, and are also failing to attain adequate levels in basic language skills in the mother tongue. The evidence of such a disability should be furnished by a qualified psychologist, supported in the case of (iii) by a report from an appropriate medical specialist. In addition, a full report on the pupil should be furnished by the school.

D - Pupils from abroad who have no understanding of English when enrolled, would be required to study one language only, Irish or English.

The final part of the exemption rule is particularly relevant to students in primary school who enrol before their 11th birthday, but who have neither English nor Irish on entering our primary school system. Given the large number of foreign children now entering our primary education system, can principals exempt four- and five-year-old children from the study of Irish on the basis that they have to initially learn English? The regulation would seem to give the principal the choice to teach the child or children, in the case of schools containing a large proportion of foreign national children, only Irish. If a principal were to take such an immersion option, would they be in conflict with the Minister's recent ruling against such a practice in all-Irish primary schools?

Regarding your question concerning college entry requirements, the main issue arises with the colleges within the National University of Ireland's remit. They will exempt any applicant who was born outside of the Republic of Ireland from the requirement to matriculate in Irish. They will also exempt any applicant who has been exempted under the Department of Education and Science rules.

If and when your daughter is applying to an NUI college through the CAO application process, and has been exempted from the study of Irish in school, she needs to inform the NUI of this by forwarding them a copy of the exemption. The application must be accompanied by a declaration from the principal of her school. There is a special form for this declaration on the NUI website, www.nui.ie.

Students taking the Leaving Certificate in 2008, who have received an exemption from the study of Irish, and are applying to college through the CAO, please note.

Brian Mooney is the former president of the Institute for Guidance Counsellors. E-mail questions to bmooney@irish-times.ie