§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many times the role of Irish in the curriculum was discussed at the curriculum conferences of the inspectorate of education since 1968; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe role of individual subjects is not normally discussed at the full conference of the Inspectorate. However, in recent years the inspectorate's panel for languages other than English has discussed various aspects relating to the teaching of Irish including the initial and in-service training of teachers of Irish, the development of resource materials for teachers and pupils in Irish language classes, the assessment of Irish through the graded objectives approach and the introduction of GCSE Irish.