Advance for Scots Gaelic Education - Jump in Student Numbers Bodes Well for Gaelic’s Future

The Scots Gaelic Tongue has persisted in spite of the blow dealt by the vicious Education Act of 1872 that forbade the use of Scots Gaelic in the classroom.  This most recent strengthening of Gaelic Medium primary education ensures that the language will continue its recover from the persecution of the British government, typified by the Education Act of 1872.

In a step forward for Gaelic the Highlands Council announced earlier this year the planned opening of the Bun-Sgoil Ghàidhlig Phort Rìgh (Portree Gaelic Primary School). One hundred and thirty students to begin their studies at the primary school and an additional 40 children enrolled in the Gaelic nursery school.  The Council’s announcement quoted Andrew Baxter - Chair of Highland Council’s Care, Learning and Housing Committee: “This is a historic day for the development of the Gaelic language in the Highlands and the Gaelic heartland of Skye. Comann nam Pàrant Port Rìgh who campaigned long for a Gaelic school can be very proud of this momentous achievement as Highland Council is also.”

This latest Gaelic school to open in Scotland is yet another sign of the steady in strengthening of Gaelic Medium Education (Foghlam tro Mheadhan na Gàidhlig) in Scotland.  In 2016 over 10,000 students were in enrolled in some type of Gaelic education in Scotland excluding those at the University level. Approximately 4,000 students are enrolled  in Gaelic Medium institutions which represents of increase of 50% since 2010.

The opening of the Portree Gaelic Primary School, the third standalone Gaelic medium education school in the Highland Council area, follows the 2007 opening of Bun-Sgoil Ghàidhlig Inbhir Nis in Inverness with a student body of over 200 and Bun-Sgoil Ghàidhlig Loch Abar in 2015 with about 75 students.

Earlier this week the school was officially opened by John Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for the Gaelic language. Swinney, a noted champion of Scots Gaelic, made the following statement: “It is a poignant day for the Gaelic school and for Skye and I am delighted the partnership between the Highland Council and the Scottish Government has enabled the establishment of this new school. It is an outstanding 21st century learning environment for the young people and that is what they deserve and it is what the language deserves as well.”

In 2014, when Deputy First Minister Swinney took his post, he dedicated his public service to the future of Gaelic in Scotland:  “As a long-serving minister in the Scottish Government, but one who has only recently assumed responsibility for the Gaelic language, I want to make clear to you my determination to work with all who have an interest in nurturing the language, with the structures and gains we have made, to pursue the aim of increasing the numbers learning, speaking and using Gaelic. That is the Government's clear aim and priority and we must use all the gains of the last decades to make further progress with this aim.  The reason for this commitment is quite simple. Gaelic belongs in Scotland.  It has been spoken in this country for well over 1000 years and I believe these places a duty and a responsibility on us as custodians of this heritage.”

Not every on in the Hebrides is happy about the new Gaelic school. There have been challenges by local politicians citing the de facto “segregation” of 160 English speaking students who will not attend Sgoil Ghàidhlig Phort Rìgh. Skye councillor John Finlayson, who retired as head teacher at Portree Primary voiced concerns saying he believed it unfair to build a new school for some, when Gaelic and English pupils had worked alongside each other for years. Around 160 pupils will continue to be educated in English at the local Primary.

It is hard to agree with the concern expressed by the local councillor on the welfare of the English-speaking students in light of the centuries of persecution suffered by Scots Gaelic speakers at the hands of British government. In 2016 First Minister John Swinney took aim at what he called hostility to the Gaelic Tongue with this general statement which is not directly related the Portree primary school: “These views on Gaelic are just as groundless and unwelcome as they are inaccurate and misleading. They betray a poor understanding of our country, its history and the respect we should show to minority communities. My very clear view on this is that this hostility to Gaelic has no place in Scotland. So, let me set the record straight. Gaelic is a language of daily use. The support for Gaelic is a good use of public funds.”

Although the advances in Primary Gaelic education are promising there remains the significant issue of lack of Secondary Garlic education resources to allow primary students to move seamlessly into secondary level Gaelic instruction.  The lack of Gaelic Medium Secondary schools has been described as a crisis for the future of Gaelic medium schooling.

Emphasizing the need for Gaelic instruction at the secondary level in an interview with “TES Scotland”, Boyd Robertson the retired principal at the Gaelic college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, stated that teenagers are being “lost to the language”. This in Robertson's view caused by the obstacles to continuing on to Gaelic secondary without interruption. Commenting on the issues raised by inferior capacity at the Secondary level Robertson stated:  “It’s very worrying. We are building Gaelic-medium education through primary and the early years of secondary but then they are lost to the language in senior secondary. It is difficult for pupils doing a language to put it in abeyance and then pick it up again in a couple of years.”

https://www.whfp.com/2018/04/19/new-beginnings-as-gaelic-school-opens-in...