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Gaelic: Revitalising Gaelic a National Asset

FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT

Future public funding of Gaelic should be (1) needs-driven, (2) project-based, (3) action-centred, (4) community-oriented and (5) partnership-built. Scottish Executive funding should be channelled through a single agency and the focus of the funding should be based on projects, not on organisations. This would have a number of advantages including the elimination of duplication of effort, greater accountability, measurability, and a strong stimulus and role for the community and the voluntary sector.

The Gaelic community has three discrete, yet holistic, components. Firstly, there is the "heartland" where the language is still vibrant but vulnerable. Secondly, there is the large area of Scotland where Gaelic was once healthy but has declined more rapidly in recent years. Thirdly, there is the remainder of Scotland and the diaspora of Gaelic speakers all over the world. The third area includes cities and towns with strong Gaelic communities. All areas have an important constituency of learners as well as native speakers. It is recognised that the development framework will have different emphasis and intensity for each community, but it must include strategies, policies and activities that are specifically relevant to all of these socio-geographic elements.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. That the Scottish Executive continue to fund Gaelic and enhance its development by:

• Having Gaelic representation at a senior level within the Executive — a small Gaelic-speaking Department of the Gaidhealtachd -- to advise Ministers on policy. It is important that these appointments be made soon, so that the incumbents will be able to assist in establishing the new structures and determining priorities for action.

• Establishing a transitional Advisory Group of four members representing the four functional areas identified in Recommendation 2 below.

• Establishing a Gaelic Development Agency responsible to the Executive and Parliament for:

• Producing an overarching strategy, and formulating and implementing clearly articulated plans with specified and achievable targets.

• Directing four functional areas: (1) education and learning; (2) arts, culture and heritage; (3) economic and social development; and (4) language planning and development, within the three communities identified in the Framework for Development.

• Facilitating the process of Secure Status for the language.

2. That the Gaelic Development Agency:

• Is headed by a Chief Executive Officer, assisted by Heads of Function for each of the four functional areas, and with a Board comprising the Chief Executive Officer and five non-executive directors representative of the Gaelic community and appointed with due diligence by a formal selection process. It is recommended that the non-executive directors receive appropriate remuneration commensurate with other public bodies.

• Is the sole channel of Government funding, to be provided in accordance with clear objectives laid out in an agreed timeframe.

• Administer initial government funding of £10 million annually for Gaelic development (not including broadcasting), in order to create the minimum conditions that will stabilise and develop the language

• Monitor the application and impact of the funding on the basis of the criteria outlined in the Framework for Development.

• Subsume the strategic direction and activities of the currently public-funded organisations. The number of organisations would be reduced and some or all of the remaining ones would become wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Agency.

• Concentrate the management of Gaelic activities in locations in the Gaelic heartland, with appropriate distribution to accommodate the "energy centres" and the language’s national disposition.

• Form strategic alliances with the Gaelic broadcasting agencies, Local Authorities, Enterprise Companies and other key stakeholders.

We further recommend that:

• Existing or new membership-based or voluntary organisations continue to receive public funding for projects through the Gaelic Development Agency.

• Urgent priority is given to the launching of a national recruitment and training drive for Gaelic teachers to build on the success of Gaelic Medium Education, and to maintenance of the initiative until supply and demand are in equilibrium.

• The valuable scheme of Specific Grants for Gaelic Education is continued, but also reviewed for effectiveness. Parameters should be established for the funding cycle, from application for grant to proof of performance against agreed policies and plans, recognising additionality and associated costs. Authorities accessing Specific Grants should give an annual accounting of how they are planning, offering, developing and monitoring Gaelic Medium Education.

• The need for funding for Gaelic education in the tertiary sector is addressed.

"Your report "Death of Gaelic forecast by end of century" must be extremely disheartening for many Gaelic speakers who have been working so hard over the years to keep their language alive.

"My mother tongue is Punjabi, but I remember when a schoolboy at Portree in Skye in the Sixties the joy my friends experienced when I mastered a few sentences of Gaelic. They, too, were always eager to hear me speak a little Punjabi or Urdu.

"This is not mere nostalgia for the wonderful years I spent in Skye. My point is that a diversity of languages enriches a community. It enriches the lives of people who are exposed to different languages.

"More importantly, the social and emotional development of children is strengthened by the fact that they can use more than one language as a point of reference. In my own case, my early childhood was spent in Baluchistan, a part of Pakistan where most children grow up speaking two or three languages. My contact with the language and people of Skye certainly enriched my life.

"Gaelic is part of the heritage of Scotland. It is a precious gift and it must not be allowed to fade into extinction. Here is a chance for the Scottish parliament to demonstrate its support for the Gaelic community in a real and meaningful way."

Habib Hashmi, Edinburgh (Letter to The Scotsman, 3 June 2000

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