Growing demand for more Gaelic education in Glasgow

The demand for Gaelic education is growing in Scotland's largest city Glasgow. The number of pupils in Gaelic Medium Education, where lessons are mainly taught in Gaelic, stands at 900 and the two existing primary schools are full. As reported recently in The Scotsman newspaper the growing demand for Gaelic education has led to the need for a third primary school in Glasgow. Rolls are predicted to increase to 1150 within three years and a report presented to the council’s education committee points out that a “sharp increase” in demand for places had been recorded in August 2016. The report also states that with primary provision growing, secondary provision also needs to grow. 

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, show the proportion of Gaelic-educated P4 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.