More opportunities need to be built around Gaelic education if young people are to develop a “level of functional fluency”, it has been said.
A new strategy is being developed to help expand learning of the language beyond the classroom and during extra-curricular activities.
The £150,000 plan, split over two years, is being run in partnership between Bòrd na Gàidhlig and youth development group Comunn na Gàidhlig.
The process will run until March 2026, when the Gaelic Youth Strategy is due to be completed.
However, it is expected that positive recommendations “might flow from the strategy work” as it progresses. The Strategy has been identified as a specific target in the National Plan for Gaelic for the next five years.
“In the first place we are not criticising in any way the work that’s taking place in Gaelic education. Young people are getting a very good education, but if our objective is that more of them leave school with better abilities in Gaelic, and a greater confidence and desire to use the language, then we need to look at the education model to see what else can be built around it.
“Secondly that we will need to look at creating new data sources or tools to allow us to better measure fluency and language affinity. In due course these would allow us to demonstrate success in bringing more young people to that point.”
Two steering groups are being established to guide the development of the strategy.
The first will be drawn from people and organisations with experience in Gaelic language development, Gaelic education, and youth work. There will be youth representation on this group.
The second will involve young Gaelic speakers from across Scotland, including those who went to further education as well as those who left Gaelic Medium Education at an earlier stage.
“We are delighted that Bòrd na Gàidhlig agree, and that they have asked us to take the lead in this important work. We have already started our conversations with key partners who we hope will be involved in this with us.
“More importantly than that perhaps, we have begun to gather the views and opinions of the young people themselves.”
READ MORE:
- Andrew Marr blasts 'offensive' Gaelic signs
- The urge to destroy something as precious as Gaelic makes no sense
- Marr says sorry for Gaelic gaffe as importance of language explained
- For pity's sake, let us have our Gaelic
He added: “Having them at the heart of this process will be a priority for us, to be sure we hear what they believe will be needed to bring more of Scotland’s young Gaelic speakers to a greater level of fluency, and a greater willingness to use the language.”
The first steering group met for the first time just in the last few days, with the second expected to meet in the near future. The groups will meet together as the strategy development takes shape.
Ealasaid MacDonald, chief executive of Bòrd na Gàidhlig said: “Bòrd na Gàidhlig are delighted that CnaG are leading on this critically important work in relation to young Gaelic speakers, It is essential that these young people understand they are a key focus of ours as we look to the strength of the Gaelic language in the future.
“Youth voices will need to be at the heart of this work, and as a foundation for the strategy which will outline development priorities for this age group.”
Deputy First Minister, and Cabinet Secretary for the Economy and Gaelic, Kate Forbes said: “Comunn na Gàidhlig is well-placed to work with young Gaelic speakers and learners to support the use of Gaelic outside of the classroom. This is key to strengthening fluency and breadth of use among young speakers and I look forward to seeing how this takes shape.
“We are working collaboratively across Parliament to progress the Scottish Languages Bill with the aim of ensuring that more young people are able to receive their education in Gaelic.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel