Upcoming Events

National | Miscellaneous

no events match your query!

New Events

National

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

Anti-Empire >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Climate Bombshell: New Evidence Reveals 30 Year Global Drop in Hurricane Frequency and Power Sat Jan 04, 2025 09:00 | Chris Morrison
A bombshell new paper in top science journal Nature has revealed that, far from hurricanes getting worse, as the alarmists claim, they have dropped in frequency and power globally over the past 30 years.
The post Climate Bombshell: New Evidence Reveals 30 Year Global Drop in Hurricane Frequency and Power appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Guardian?s Relentless Climate Zigzaggerations Sat Jan 04, 2025 07:00 | James Alexander
The Guardian has been indulging in climate zigzaggeration of late, says Prof James Alexander. Such a zigzagging whirlwind of alarmist exaggeration deserves to be shared more widely, if only to ward off the unwary.
The post The Guardian’s Relentless Climate Zigzaggerations appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Sat Jan 04, 2025 02:52 | Toby Young
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Net Zero Riots Fri Jan 03, 2025 17:00 | Sallust
Last summer's riots weren't mainly about immigration, says Chris Williamson. They were the fruit of policies such as Net Zero that have impoverished the UK and created an alienated underclass that is screaming to be heard.
The post The Net Zero Riots appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Trump: Britain Making Very Big Mistake by Abandoning North Sea Oil for ?Windmills? Fri Jan 03, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
Donald Trump has told Keir Starmer to "open up" the North Sea and "get rid of windmills", as the President-elect attacked the U.K. Government?s Net Zero energy policy.
The post Trump: Britain Making Very Big Mistake by Abandoning North Sea Oil for “Windmills” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?113 Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:42 | en

offsite link Pentagon could create a second Kurdish state Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:31 | en

offsite link How Washington and Ankara Changed the Regime in Damascus , by Thierry Meyssan Tue Dec 17, 2024 06:58 | en

offsite link Statement by President Bashar al-Assad on the Circumstances Leading to his Depar... Mon Dec 16, 2024 13:26 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?112 Fri Dec 13, 2024 15:34 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Extra points for Irish = educational apartheid

category national | miscellaneous | other press author Tuesday December 23, 2008 11:22author by JayC Report this post to the editors

Muireann Ni Mhorain, head of An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta, attempts to justify extra points for those taking exams in Irish in the Leaving Cert.
muireann1.jpg

A recent columnists piece, in the Irish Times, described the practice of giving bonus points in various subjects to those sitting exams through Irish as "educational apartheid". Effectively, it seems that displaying the same knowledge of a given subject as Gaeilge attracts more points than someone doing the exact same through English.

By extension, someone showing an inferior knowledge of a particular subject (through Irish) will be marked above someone has a superior knowledge of the same subject - by a margin of 3 to 10 per cent. Most reasonable people would concede that this is unfair, and distorts results and college placings.

Muireann Ni Mhorain, head of An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta attempts to justify the practice at the link below.

Taken from the Gombeen Nation blog, with acknowledgment to the Irish Times.

Related Link: http://gombeennation.blogspot.com/2008/12/bonus-points-for-gaelscoilenna-is.html
author by Other Side of the Storypublication date Tue Dec 23, 2008 14:00author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Here's a link to Muireann Ni Mhorains response to Kate Holmquists article.

Also some details from someone who recently sat the Leaving Cert through Irish: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2008/1212/1....html

Related Link: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/1218/1229523050392.html
author by Andrew Dougherty - nonepublication date Fri Dec 26, 2008 03:09author address author phone Report this post to the editors

A few points to help the language after centuries of linguicide are a good thing. I am from America and I am struggling to learn Gaelic because, as anyone knows, language is the first (or was it last) defense of a culture. I'm hardly Irish (meistens Deutscher) I am going to go so far soon as to do all my publications and software As Gaeilge. Speaking the language of imperialist oppressors debases a person and his family. The language will need our help to survive. Sure, the "language apartheid" argument has merit. It is unfair. But so are reparations. That's the point. I would imagine the debate would be similar to affirmative action. Of course, I really don't know anything, but I would like to learn, hopefully, as Gaeilge. Language is so critical to thought (I believe in something along the lines of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir-Whorf_hypothesis ). It is for this reason that I am studying Gaelic. To those who are interested, I am planning on scanning in free etexts of hundreds of books written in Irish. In fact I should move on this particular project. If you can help me with this in some way, please email me at andrewdo+irish@frdcsa.org . Thanks.

author by Darren Priorpublication date Sat Dec 27, 2008 23:55author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Given that students being taught through Irish schools are at a disadvantage at second level in that a lot of books are not available in Irish the points are fair. When all the subjects have books in Irish the extra points should be gotten rid of. But not until then...

 
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy