Norma Foley, the Minister for Education, has expanding the exemption list for studying Irish.
The Sunday Business Post is reporting that the Kerry TD issued a new departmental circular - saying students with a “high level of multiple and persistent needs”, may be allowed to skip Irish as a compulsory subject.
The Irish language is accorded special status under the Constitution, and it is a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools alongside English and Maths.
Students who score in the lowest 10 per cent of school pupils in reading, comprehension or spelling can get an exemptions. They are also granted to students from abroad who have spent their early years in their native school system.
Last year 2,400 primary school pupils and 13,000 secondary students received exemptions from Irish.
