As already said, the policy of maintenance and restoration of the Irish language was conducted mainly through the education system.
From 1900 onwards, the teaching of Irish had been allowed in primary schools. From 1878-1900 Irish was taught to the fifth and sixth-class pupils outside official class time. However, even when the 10 shilling fee attached to the extra tuition was lifted in 1899 at the request of the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language, Irish was being taught in a mere 1% of schools. (204)
The educational system was targeted as being instrumental in the restoration and expansion of the Irish language. (204)
In the school year 1906-1907, there were 36 bilingual schools in which Irish was taught. By 1920 this number had risen to 234. It was being taught as a subject in 1261 out of 7947 (15.8%) schools. (204) Language Freedom Movement 1995
Irish Education System (Multiling 167)
Today in Primary education in Ireland both English and Irish are
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Thus by 1921 when the Irish Free State was founded, a quarter of national schools taught Irish, with 240 schools being Irish-medium schools.
With the Irish Free State, Irish education became policy. (Bilingual education). The Irish language, its history, culture and traditions were given a significant place in the curriculum of schools. The National Programmes of 1922 and 1926 were particularly influential in promoting Irish in the primary sector. The high point was reached when Irish was taught in all schools and was used as a medium of instruction in 12% of primary and 28% of secondary schools. (Baker, 49).
The teachers started to have misgivings about the educational benefit of teaching Irish. Many parents joined teachers and requested instruction through English with the teaching and writing in Irish to be ignored or postponed until self-expression in English was sufficiently