Increased Funding for Gaelic Medium Education in Glasgow to Meet Growing Demand

The Scottish Government is to provide £2 million of capital support towards a fourth Gaelic primary school in Glasgow to meet growing demand, Deputy First Minister John Swinney recently announced. Swinney stated: “Gaelic medium education is central to our efforts to support the language and we must ensure it also has strong links to Gaelic in the home, the community, or the workplace. We want to ensure those who wish to learn and use the Gaelic language are given every opportunity to do so, and I believe we are at a crucial turning point for promoting Gaelic education in Scotland. In the 20 years since the first Gaelic primary opened, Gaelic education has been highly valued by children, parents and carers. The new Gaelic primary school in Glasgow would undoubtedly allow more children to access the benefits of such an education.” - The Scotsman

In 2016 it was reported that the number of Scots Gaelic speakers in Glasgow has reached a critical mass to the point that there is developing a Scots Gaelic Glaswegian dialect. Glaswegians have introduced their own distinctive style of pronunciation described “Gaelic with a Glasgow Accent”, giving proof that Gaelic is a growing modern living language.  Recent estimates put the number of Gaelic speakers in Glasgow at about 7,000 or roughly 10% of Scotland’s Celtic speakers.

Glasgow is the largest provider of Gaelic Medium Education outside of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Recent Scottish Government statistics show that pupils in Gaelic primary schools are performing better at reading, writing, listening and talking at nearly every stage of primary education. Government figures, which were published in February 2017, show the proportion of Gaelic-educated pupils achieving expected levels in reading, writing and listening and talking were 79 per cent, 76 per cent and 87 per cent respectively. Equivalent figures for non-Gaelic pupils were 75 per cent, 69 per cent and 81 per cent.

See original from The Scotsman here: https://www.scotsman.com/education/scottish-government-pledges-2m-for-further-gaelic-education-1-5021937