Annual Report

Bòrd na Gàidhlig Annual Report 2006/07

Gaelic Education

Gaelic Education is a priority for Bòrd na Gàidhlig and the Bòrd is responsible for advising the Scottish Ministers and other people on Gaelic Education. Bòrd na Gàidhlig is also tasked with formulating a National Strategy for Gaelic Education.

Numbers

Education is one of the areas where great advances have been made in recent years and Bòrd na Gàidhlig wants to build on this success. The number of pupils who are in Gaelic Medium Education at primary school level has risen from 24 in 1985 to 2,092 in the school year 2006-2007. There were 293 pupils in Gaelic Medium Education at secondary school level in the school year 2006-2007. In 60 nurseries run by local authorities, there were 701 children registered in the school year 2006-2007.

When it comes to Gaelic as a subject, there were 945 fluent speakers taking Gaelic as a subject at secondary school in the school year 2006-2007, and 2,696 learners taking Gaelic as a subject in the same year.

The number of students who are in Gaelic Further or Higher Education or who are taking a Gaelic course at that level has risen also: the number of students in Scotland’s colleges and universities who were enrolled for a Gaelic course increased from 730 in the academic year 2003-2004 to 1,200 in 2004-2005.

Further and Higher Education and Adults

In addition to education at school and pre-school level, Further and Higher Education is also very important and there are a number of courses available related to Gaelic at colleges and universities in Scotland. At some institutions courses are available which are taught entirely through the medium of Gaelic – such as those on offer at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye and Lews Castle College on Lewis. There are also degrees in Celtic and Gaelic in the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with Gaelic a key element of many of those degrees. There are also teacher training courses such as those offered by Strathclyde University where Gaelic teachers are trained.

There are plenty of opportunities if an adult wants to learn Gaelic, and organisations such as Clì Gàidhlig are very much involved in this area. There are plenty of self-teaching courses and distance learning options, and there are also a number of Gaelic classes run by various people in communities.

The Challenge

Though there have been notable successes in Gaelic Education, there is still much work to be done. There are difficulties such as a lack of teachers, especially with regard to the teaching of subjects through the medium of Gaelic in secondary schools, and a lack of teaching materials in some areas. The Scottish Executive has established working groups to look at some of these issues, but Bòrd na Gàidhlig is aware of the danger that the growth of Gaelic Education may be restricted if some of these difficulties are not overcome. The excellent work that has been done so far will be built upon, and it should not be forgotten, as much research demonstrates, that a bilingual education is a very good education.