Teacher dismissed after failing Irish exam

A Donegal primary teacher has been dismissed from her post because she failed a Department of Education Irish language exam for teachers trained outside the State.

Ms Janet Doherty, who has been teaching for six years in Drumfries, Co Donegal was dismissed last month after she failed the exam by 3 percentage points.

Last night, the INTO expressed its dismay at her dismissal. Its general secretary, Mr John Carr, said Ms Doherty was being penalised because she had trained in Derry. "Although she is a citizen of the State, she is being victimised because she was trained in the North."

All teachers trained outside the State have five years to pass the Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge (SCG) before their qualified teacher status is revoked. The exam is widely regarded as very testing. One teacher said it was "tougher than Leaving Cert honours Irish".

Ms Doherty is thought to be the first teacher to lose a post over the SCG, but the INTO says at least 200 other teachers may be at risk. In recent years, staff shortages in national schools have prompted the Department to recruit more teachers trained outside the State, chiefly from Northern Ireland and the UK.

Last month, a pressure group agreed to lobby the INTO to put pressure on the Department for a review of the SCG.

Teachers trained outside the State say the Department provides only limited SCG tuition and many teachers are forced to pay for private lessons. There are no textbooks available for the exam and teachers report great difficulty accessing information about the curriculum.

Ms Doherty, who worked at St Patrick's National School says she is hugely disappointed by the development. "Despite all my efforts, my job appeared in the local newspaper and there was nothing I could do about it".

Ms Doherty had paid for private tuition in Irish for six years and has failed the SCG numerous times. She obtained a one-year extension to take the test again but failed it by a narrow margin.

Ms Doherty has been advised by the Department that she can take a job in Special Education or work as a substitute teacher. Her full-time position is no longer available.

Mr John Carr, INTO general secretary stated that there was an urgent need for a syllabus to be developed for teachers to study for the Irish language qualification.

He also demanded the provision of Irish language courses for this group of teachers to be organised all over the country. "These must be available free of charge to these teachers who are anxious to improve their Irish language skills. It is incumbent on the State to support them," he said.