“But it can be difficult to find schools in Ireland that still teach German.”The numbers reveal just how hard. Almost a third of Junior Certificate German students fail to continue to the Leaving Certificate. And, as head of the German teachers’ Association (GDI), she sees school exchanges as key to addressing reservations in monolingual Irish minds about language-learning. The EU have the money for this, I just don’t think Irish schools are aware this is there.”Back in Roth, local secondary school English teachers say any Irish schools considering an exchange are pushing at an open door in Germany. Back on the home stage, interesting things are happening in Irish schools, with the phased introduction of primary language teaching.

Source: The Irish Times January 11, 2026 12:00 UTC