THE Principal of Irish-medium school Coláiste Feirste in West Belfast says his students should have the same access to subject specific teachers as students in English-medium schools.
Mícheál Mac Giolla Ghunna was addressing MLAs on Stormont's Education Committee on Wednesday.
His concerns focus on the choice of subjects for A Level students available at the school, due to a shortage of Irish-speaking teachers.
"Irish medium education is not always a translation of English medium education," he told MLAs. "It's a different way of approaching the development of skills, understanding and knowledge within the classroom.
"Students in Irish-medium schools should have the same access to subject specific teachers and specialists as students in English-medium schools.
"They should have the same access to curriculum and to qualifications and the same support from classroom assistants.
"Not enough has been done to meet the demand and that demand is increasing."
He said that pupil numbers at Coláiste Feirste had grown substantially to over 1,000 pupils since 2021, but the school could only offer a limited number of subjects at A-Level due to a lack of specialist teachers.
"We are developing apprenticeships through the Irish language but the biggest challenge is finding specialists who can teach those qualifications at a high level," he added.
"At present Coláiste Feirste can offer between 25 and 27 qualifications at GCSE with many non-specialists, but the A-Level curriculum has been limited to 15 subjects for some years now."
Mr Mac Giolla Ghunna also said that due to a lack of Irish-speaking staff at the Northern Ireland exams board, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), there was a lack of resources for pupils in Irish.
DUP MLA David Brooks said: "In a system where finances are stretched, my fear is that raising one sector above another means you are taking from sectors that are already struggling."
West Belfast MLA Pat Sheehan has introduced a private members bill to require the Department of Education to prepare a workforce plan for Irish-medium education.
