This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Support for Gaelic education
12/06/2003
Gaelic medium education is not the 'poor relation' of
English education in Scotland, Education Minister Peter
Peacock said today.
On the eve of Comunn na Gàidhlig's annual congress in
Nairn, the Minister stressed the Executive's commitment to
Gaelic medium education and highlighted some of the ongoing
positive initiatives.
These include:
- Training more Gaelic teachers - 25 primary and 3
secondary teachers are expected to graduate this year -
to meet demand.
- Good progress is being made with the delivery of
Gaelic teacher training in the Highlands and islands,
enabling teachers to train in their home area. The
Scottish Executive has contributed £70,000 towards
course development.
- Provision of quality Gaelic resources such as the
software which will be distributed to all Gaelic medium
schools this month.
- Ongoing support for Gaelic medium teachers with
resources, teachers network and online facilities.
Mr Peacock said:
"These are exciting and encouraging times for Gaelic
education. The number of pupils in Gaelic medium education
is increasing at both primary and secondary levels and this
is great news for the future of the language.
"While we are advancing, I want to see further progress.
I want Gaelic education to continue to flourish and am
committed to ensuring that it remains a high priority for
the Scottish Executive."
Comunn na Gàidhlig was created in 1984 to promote and
co-ordinate Gaelic development. The organisation works at
local, national and international levels and the annual
còmhdhail (congress) is an opportunity to discuss and
develop national policies for Gaelic.
The number of primary pupils in Gaelic medium education
has risen from 1859 in 2001-02 to 1925 in 2002-03. The
number of secondary pupils in Gaelic medium education has
risen from 352 to 375 while the number of pupils in fluent
speaking secondary classes is up from 928 to 997.
Currently, 19 secondary schools offer Gaelic medium
education and a further 34 offer Gaelic for fluent
speakers.
Learning and Teaching Scotland, in conjunction with
Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig, has recently completed
Gaelic versions of some of its most popular software
titles. The National Grid for Learning has provided
£112,000 to fund the provision of complimentary copies of
this software which will be distributed to all Gaelic
medium schools in Scotland from next week.