Intensive Gaeltacht Course for Primary Teachers

The Scrúdú le hAghaidh Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge (SCG) and Oiriúnú le hAghaidh Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge (OCG) are schemes for primary school teachers in Ireland who have qualified abroad. The schemes allow teachers to learn Irish while working. It is a requirement of both schemes that candidates attend Irish courses at recognized providers in the Gaeltacht. Oideas Gael is a recognized provider for this purpose.

Please note that this is a general-purpose Irish language course and not an exam preparation course. This course is particularly suited to OCG/SCG candidates who have completed their assessments or who wish to improve various aspects of their spoken Irish. If you intend on taking examinations this year please see our other courses.

Special circumstances February 2022

OCG/SCG exam preparation courses are normally residential Gaeltacht courses. However, given the uncertainty regarding the impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Teaching Council has given permission to offer online courses as an alternative to Gaeltacht courses on an exceptional basis. This course will therefore be recognised towards the three-week learning period in the Gaeltacht required to successfully complete the SCG. It has not yet been decided whether this arrangement will be in place for courses offered in April 2022.

Course content

This course will focus on practising and improving your spoken Irish so you can be more confident in the school and classroom. It will follow a specially-prepared syllabus suited to online learning. The course will also emphasise some important aspects of the normal Gaeltacht experience: contact with the Gleann Cholm Cille community, culture, music, etc.

Timetable

Structured over c. 33 hours, the course consists of a mix of live online classes, cultural activities and independent study. The live online classes will take place between 9.30am–4.00pm over five days from Wednesday, February 23rd to Sunday, February 27th 2022.

In addition, cultural and informal events will take place on certain evenings during this period, and it will be required that all participants attend at least three of these sessions. Participants must take an active part across each day of the course, Saturday and Sunday included, as well as completing their independent study tasks, in order to be awarded their course certificate.