Short Life Working Group on Economic and Social Opportunities for Gaelic report: SG response

Education

3.4.1 In order to fully realise economic, as well as educational, benefits, a strategy is developed urgently to begin overcoming the disparity in provision in Gaelic secondary education, which inhibits fuller language acquisition and confidence in language use, with the aim of ensuring a broad range of subjects is available through the medium of Gaelic to certificated level.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation.

As noted, the Scottish Languages Bill brings forward a Gaelic Language Strategy. This will be developed in consultation with stakeholders and supported where necessary by regulations that can set standards in relation to Gaelic education. The Bill also proposes that Education authorities will set out their plans for Gaelic education provision as part of their Gaelic langugage plans.

Standards could be used to make progress across a number of issues which have been viewed as obstacles in Gaelic medium education and provide a clearer indication of what can be expected by young people when they commence on their journey through Gaelic medium education. This could include enhancing and increasing secondary curriculum provision through the medium of Gaelic.

3.4.2 A new initiative is introduced urgently to attract new teachers while pro-actively persuading teachers qualified to teach in Gaelic who do not currently work in Gaelic education. Both strands may require the establishment of a range of financial incentives, support and confidence-building initiatives to enhance the appeal of teaching in Gaelic.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation. There are a number of incentives in place. It is important that these are maintained and kept under review. Workforce challenges require actions by a range of public sector organisations in order make progress and it is recognised that actions across recruitment and also retention are needed.

The Teaching Bursary Scheme has been extended to include Gaelic medium teaching at both primary and secondary levels as well as the teaching of Gaelic as a standalone subject at secondary. The scheme addresses recruitment shortages in the hardest to fill subjects and provides a £20,000 bursary for career changers wishing to undertake a one year PDGE Initial Teacher Education (ITE) course.

Bòrd na Gàidhlig can fund local authorities to enable teachers to undertake courses to strengthen Gaelic language skills through the Gaelic Language Act Implementation Fund – recently rebranded as the Gaelic Plans Fund.

Local authorities can also include language courses, provision of back fill for teachers to be released for language courses in their annual bids for Gaelic Specific Grant. This is a ring-fenced funding scheme (£4.48 million for 24/25) made available by Scottish Ministers to Scottish Local Authorities for up to 75% of the cost towards delivery of Gaelic education.

The Student Awards Agency Scotland Guidance Previous Study provides that SAAS will waive previous study rules on Cert HE Gaelic Immersion courses. Students who have already received funding for a degree or Higher National level qualification are still eligible to receive funding for this course. If the Cert HE Gaelic Immersion is studied prior to another programme of study (e.g. an HNC or degree), it will not be taken into account for previous study.

Bòrd na Gàidhlig offers Gaelic Education Grants support for those currently working towards a career in Gaelic teaching or Gaelic medium teachers looking to develop their professional skills. Under this fund students from the following can be considered: students undertaking a Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in Gaelic education; students undertaking a Gaelic early years or Gaelic childcare course; Students undertaking a Gaelic education undergraduate degree; teachers that are employed in a role relating to Gaelic medium education that wish to undertake a course to develop their skills or qualified teachers looking to develop their skills to move into Gaelic medium education.

A campaign promoting the rewards of a teaching career is currently being considered, with the aim of improving recruitment and retention to the subjects facing the greatest shortages. Gaelic will be included in this.

The Scottish Government will continue to support Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s ongoing promotion of Gaelic medium teaching.

3.4.3 As far as possible, teacher education should be delivered through the medium of Gaelic with new concerted efforts to ensure GME teacher education is (i) incentivised centrally and (ii) made as accessible as possible, including through the employment of distance learning, as long as that does not compromise the Gaelic language skills acquisition required to produce successful teachers.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation.

The annual guidance letter from Scottish Government to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) emphasises the importance of Gaelic teacher recruitment by making clear that the ‘supply of teachers able to teach in the medium of Gaelic continues to be a priority for Scottish Ministers. The Scottish Government would like the SFC to continue to assist in promoting provision in this area and to give consideration to any initiatives which could improve effectiveness. We ask that SFC encourage Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers to increase the places currently allocated to them and to promote a positive approach in relation to applications for all ITE programmes.’ This letter also encourages interviews being offered to all applicants for teaching for Gaelic-medium education.

Individual training institutions are responsible for the delivery of Initial Teacher Education. However, the Scottish Government – while being minfdul of the independence of ITE institutions – will liaise with the Scottish Council of Deans of Education to explore how this recommendation can be met.

3.4.4 Adequate, regular support for early years practitioners and Gaelic teachers be put in place to improve conditions and retention, including immersion techniques, ongoing CPL in language skills and the provision of a wider range of quality resources to negate the need for teachers to produce so much of their own materials.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation.

In line with Audit Scotland recommendations and the Programme for Government, in 2024-25, Scottish Government plan to:

• take forward work with councils and other stakeholders to develop long-term workforce plans for the sector to address the risks to sustainability and meet future demand
• work with councils to urgently put in place a process for monitoring progress with providers paying the real Living Wage to staff delivering funded ELC
• grow the childminding workforce and trial new methods of improving retention, in light of the significant decline in this part of the workforce in recent years
• further develop the new one stop shop for quality assured continuous professional learning (CPL) resources which launched in March
• engage with the Adult Social Care sector to understand how the ELC workforce can engage in sectoral bargaining and effective voice as a longer-term mechanism for equalising workforce pay and conditions between local authority and PVI workforces

The Scottish Government Gaelic and Scots division is in regular contact with Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s early learning and childcare team and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. That ensures that the distinct requirements of the Gaelic medium sector are reflected in national strategies. This will be further guaranteed by the statutory role the Scottish Languages Bill assigns to Comann nam Pàrant as a consultee in Gaelic educational matters.

Various relevant actions have been outlined under recommendation 3.3.2. These include Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s research into the positions of both Gaelic medium and general ELC provision. The findings of this research will inform the Scottish Government’s future approach to Gaelic medium ELC.

As detailed under 3.4.1, education authorities will be required to produce Gaelic education delivery plans. These must comprehensively outline how an authority will provide Gaelic education at all levels from ELC to further and higher education. The proper resourcing and training of teachers, according to the techniques required for Gaelic medium education, will be an essential part of these delivery plans.

This is part of a broader strengthening of the Gaelic Language Plan system through the Bill. At present, Gaelic Language Plans commit public bodies to provide Gaelic learning as part of CPL. The Bill’s introduction of a ministerial Gaelic Language Strategy with guidance, standards and regulations will strengthen these commitments and strengthen their delivery.

3.4.5 A range of initiatives continue to be supported to facilitate Gaelic learning among adults in communities, the media, online and in further and higher education establishments.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation.

The Scottish Government sponsors multiple adult learning opportunities for Gaelic. This ranges from our funding of bodies like Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and services such as SpeakGaelic. Opportunities for community learning are expanded through the growth of centres such as Cnoc Soilleir in South Uist and Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle. We will continue to support these initiatives as well as to work with other community organisations looking to expand the opportunities and infrastructure for Gaelic learning in their local areas.

This support is something we build on in the Scottish Languages Bill. Among its measures is an amendment of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 to ensure Gaelic is considered in terms of access to fundable further and higher education in Gaelic language and culture. The Bill also seeks to place a duty on Scottish Ministers and Education Authorities to consider the promotion of Gaelic education at all levels – including adult and community learning.

In addition to these Gaelic specific measures, the forthcoming updated Strategic Guidance to Councils for the next set of 3 yearly community learning and development plans could include messaging around the importance of councils incorporating Gaelic adult learning opportunities.

3.4.6 Gaelic education should be developed at all levels, with access improved through transport and use of technology, where appropriate, and acknowledgement of the economic, as well as educational benefits from improved and expanded provision. In particular, consideration should be given as to how a legal right to Gaelic education may be implemented to ensure expansion in provision and improved access.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation.

Through the Scottish Languages Bill, education authorities will have a duty to support access to Gaelic medium education. This will be achieved through supporting children who lack access to GME within their own local authority to access it within another authority. The Bill also proposes to put in place a formal procedure which authorities must follow before transport can be withdrawn from pupils accessing GME. This will bring procedures for Gaelic education in line with the protections in place for transport to denominational eduational provision. This measure makes Comann nam Pàrant, alongside Bòrd na Gàidhlig, a statutory consultee in the process.

As noted above, among the major Gaelic projects sponsored by the Scottish Government in recent years have been eSgoil and SpeakGaelic – both stellar examples of the use of technology in advocating Gaelic learning and making it accessible across Scotland and internationally. In addition to their success in advancing Gaelic they have demonstrated how Gaelic educational initiatives designed in response to the language’s particular circumstances have, in turn, been assets of wider social and economic benefit. This was seen not least in eSgoil’s national utility as an online learning platform during the pandemic.

These projects will continue to be supported and the principles implicit in their success – that Gaelic educational development is an asset to Scotland’s wider public life – will be advanced across the Scottish Government’s policy work. At present the latter is something which is achieved through the Scottish Government’s Gaelic Language Plan and its implementation group. The Scottish Languages Bill elevates this through the duty it places on Scottish Ministers and education authorities to have regard to Gaelic in exercising their functions.

3.4.7 To begin improving the secondary Gaelic medium offering, relevant local authorities should consult on the potential to designate certain secondary schools as Gaelic medium schools, which, through annual reporting, would demonstrate clear ambitions to develop Gaelic secondary provision, even if there are challenges in the short-term.

The Scottish Government partially accepts this recommendation

Standalone Gaelic medium schools are recognised as the preferred setting for immersion education. The Scottish Government is supportive of education authorities, school parents and bodies such as Bòrd na Gàidhlig and Comann nam Pàrant as they work towards this goal. The requirement for education authorities to produce delivery plans for Gaelic education will be a means by which they can articulate how they will do so.

The Scottish Languages Bill provides further measures which will contribute towards this aim. For example, it amends the Education (Scotland) Act 2016 by placing a duty on education authorities to establish distinct catchment areas for Gaelic medium education. For schools with joint Gaelic medium and English medium provision it will be possible to establish a separate catchment area for the Gaelic medium unit.

3.4.8 A range of Gaelic medium Foundation Apprenticeships should be available in S5-6 for pupils wishing to pursue careers in early years & social care, the creative industries, culture, heritage, tourism, sport, food & drink and the natural environment where the use of Gaelic would be an advantage, or its promotion encouraged.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation.

At present Gaelic medium Foundation Apprenticeships are offered in early years & social care and creative & digital media by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Among the strategic aims of the newly amalgamated UHI North, West and Hebrides is to extend the range of courses it delivers through Gaelic while strengthening the links between Gaelic and employability. The latter aim has an initial focus on health, social and child care and tourism. The Scottish Government supports these institutions in their development of these Gaelic courses and recognises them as a blueprint for further expanding the range of Foundation Apprenticeships available in Gaelic.

The requirement within the Scottish Languages Bill for education authorities to prepare delivery plans for Gaelic education extends to the provision of Gaelic learning in further and higher education. Foundation Apprenticeships across the sectors identified by this recommendation will be among the aspects of Gaelic learning opportunities which education authorities must consider in preparing their delivery plans. The Foundation Apprenticeship Enhancement Group, set up to take forward improvements to Foundation Apprenticeships will also consider the recommenations in the report.

3.4.9 Gaelic language teaching for learners be compulsory for all S1-S3 pupils in secondary schools in Na h-Eileanan Siar, Skye & Lochalsh, Lochaber, Tiree and Islay along with access for those wishing to gain a qualification in S4-S6. This could apply in other places where GM pupils feed into secondary schools, for example, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government has noted this recommendation.

Local authorities decide the content of their school curricula. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland are able to express a general expectation of what a curriculum will deliver. At present Education Scotland’s Advice on Gaelic Education outlines the expectations in relation to Gaelic medium and Gaelic learner education. The Scottish Languages Bill’s measure for introducing standards in relation to Gaelic Education will be a future vehicle for expressing the different levels of provision expected.

Education Scotland’s Advice on Gaelic Education applies to all sectors of Gaelic Education in Scotland. The Advice on Gaelic Education is integrated within the wider framework of documentation that supports Scotland’s Curriculum. Building the Curriculum 3 makes clear the entitlements that all young people in 3-18 education have. In particular, they are entitled to a coherent education, to receive personal support, a senior phase that allows them to continue to develop the four capacities, and achieve qualifications and has a continuous focus on literacy.

The Advice on Gaelic Education clearly differentiates between children and young people in Gaelic Medium Education and Gaelic Learner Education (GLE). Building on the 1+2 Languages policy, all children and young people in Scotland have an entitlement to learning additional languages until the end of S3 which could include Gaelic (Learners) as an L2 or L3 for those in English Medium Education.

The Scottish Government will engage with local authorities through COSLA and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) to help to understand the context for this recommendation and whether national support is required to fulfil it. Education Scotland, with a renewed focus on curriculum improvement, will be the lead organisation for curriculum in GME.

The Scottish Languages Bill introduces powers to set standards for Gaelic Education in Scotland. These standards could outline the extent to which local authorities are expected to provide Gaelic medium and Gaelic learner education. Illustrative standards are provided in the Scottish Government’s response to the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s Stage 1 Report on the Bill.

3.4.10 ‘Statutory Guidance on Gaelic Education’ should be reviewed and refreshed, and its status promoted widely within Scottish education with a range of mechanisms put in place through policy, annual reporting and school inspections to ensure adherence to its principles by local authorities and education policymakers.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation.

The power the Scottish Languages Bill creates for Scottish Ministers to prepare guidance on Gaelic education will supersede the power currently held by Bòrd na Gàidhlig. Bòrd na Gàidhlig has been considering a refresh of the existing guidance for some time. The transfer of the guidance issuing power on implementation of the bill will in effect result in a renewal of guidance and its status will be enhanced due to it being a product of Scottish Ministers rather than - as at present – an NDPB. Its promotion throughout Scottish education will be achieved by the duty on Scottish Ministers and education authorities to have regard to Gaelic education in the exercise of their functions. Adherence to its principles will be guaranteed by the direction giving power the Bill creates for Scottish Ministers in the event of a local authority failing to fulfil its duties with regard to Gaelic educational provision.

The delivery plans which education authorities must prepare as part of their general Gaelic language plans will provide the means for monitoring their adherence to the statutory guidance. Bòrd na Gàidhlig, in monitoring the implementation of the Gaelic language plans, will be reporting on the implementation of Gaelic education outlined in an authority’s delivery plan.

3.4.11 A Gaelic medium curriculum is developed, which is not a translation of the English curriculum but includes ongoing language acquisition, learning about Scottish history, the richness of Gaelic culture and concepts unique to Gaelic, such as the environmental stewardship inherent in dùthchas with a potential tie to 3.5.5.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation.

The Curriculum Improvement Cycle will include Gaelic (Literacy) and the Gaelic curriculum and therefore the CIC will be a key route through which this recommendation will be taken forward.

Education Scotland’s Advice on Gaelic Education details immersion education, as part of Curriculum for Excellence, and includes the development of social language and ongoing language acquisition. It also provides advice on opportunities for children and young people to develop their understanding and knowledge of Gaelic language and culture as part of Scotland’s identity. Partners and Gaelic bodies, through working collaboratively with schools, have a role to play in adding value to children and young people’s experiences and outcomes in Gaelic Education and contributing to a curriculum based on local context and Gaelic culture, which can include concepts such as dùthchas.

The context of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act also provides an obligation to highlight these aspects of Gaelic culture. Article 30 (Children from Indigenous and Minority Groups) provides specific rights for children in minority groups, including linguistic minorities. “While most of what Article 30 says is implied by other Articles of the UNCRC, it exists to makes clear that the rights of minority children and young people should not be overlooked by people who think about how to put the Convention into practice.” – Children and Young Person’s Commissioner – Scotland.

As outlined elsewhere, the provisions within the Scottish Languages Bill relating to proportionate delivery and delivery planning in Gaelic education will improve the extent to which Gaelic is supported across the school system. The development of a Gaelic curriculum – with more subjects offered through Gaelic, and more resources created originally in Gaelic – forms part of that. Education Scotland will act as the lead body on curriculum in GME – as part of a wider focus on curriculum improvement.

The Scottish Government will continue to support stakeholders such as Stòrlann, Acair and Comhairle nan Leabhraichean as they develop Gaelic books and other educational resources.

The system of Gaelic Language Plans also provides another means of working towards this recommendation. In selecting official materials for translation emphasis can be placed on ones which are of relevance to Gaelic Medium Schools – for example, for use within the modern studies curriculum.