Daveat168 below mentioned dyslexia which reminds me of a question I've meant to ask here.

My niece, currently in primary school, has dyslexia and because of this is now exempt from doing Irish.

Does anyone understand the reason for this as it makes no sense to me at all.
Why Irish and no other subject?
Will she be exempt from studying French or German aswell?
How do children in gaedhealscoileanna with dyslexia manage?

Thanks

Don't get me started.....

There is an avenue there, and some people take it. There is no good reason for it.

Ha! You'd think that if a person had dyslexia they bump up the support of Irish for them so they'd succeed! Total wrong approach to aiding people with dyslexia and running a language education program! Is mór an caillteanas!

quote:

Don't get me started.....

There is an avenue there, and some people take it. There is no good reason for it.

So the reasons it's supporters give for it are weak at best?
Could it be, as I suspect, that those behind it wouldn't exactly be the most supportive of Irish anyway? :)
Another bit of ammo for the anti-compulsion crowd?

quote:

You'd think that if a person had dyslexia they bump up the support of Irish for them so they'd succeed!

Absolutely. If a child has difficulty with numbers they don't simply 'drop' mathematics.

http://www.independent.ie/education/latest-news/irish-requirement-hampers-studen ts-college-bid-1862300.html

Further comment not required.

The Department of Education has expressed "concern" about these exemptions - but they do not appear to be doing anything about it.

"Niamh chose to drop Irish on entering fourth class"
So students can simply decide to drop Irish themselves?
That's bizarre.

I suppose others here have been aware of this for some time but it's news to me.
I have no recollection of anyone being allowed to drop Irish in my time in school (80's and 90's) so was astounded by it.
The girl in the article managed Italian and Japanese - dyslexia or no dyslexia - so it sounds like an excuse for not bothering with a subject which she, and presumably her parents, placed no value in. I've no sympathy for her.

quote:

Further comment not required.

Italiano è migliore di la lengua Irlandese. No?

I won't hyper-judge her, but she seems to be a brainiac in everything else she does! Some people who are the overachiever types burn out. I wonder if this is what happened and she saw Irish as the thing to drop instead of Japanese and Italian ...

She dropped Irish long before she attempted the other languages. In Primary school. (few primary schools offer a foreign language - and Italian is rare at second level.)