Post-Primary schools in the Aran Islands have been granted an allowance of up to €450,000 to help students from the mainland live and study there.
The money will be allocated to families on the Aran Islands that provide accommodation for students from the mainland who spend a school year on one of the islands.
The grant money was awarded by Minister of State for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands and Galway TD Seán Kyne under the government’s Irish Language Learners Scheme and will be paid out over the next three years.
Under this scheme, which has been in place since 2007, up to 30 post-primary students benefit from spending an entire school year in one of the post-primary schools on the Aran Islands.
A daily grant of €27 is paid to each student for the nights they spend on the islands.
Minister Kyne said this scheme plays an important role in keeping schools on the islands viable, as well as the larger island community.
“Furthermore,” he added, “as a result of this measure, students are given an opportunity which they wouldn’t otherwise receive to spend an entire year being educated through Irish on the Aran Islands.”
“This measure is thus beneficial both to the Irish Language and to the islands.”
