This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Action to recruit more Gaelic teachers
02/02/2005
An action group to tackle the need for more Gaelic medium teachers was launched today by Education Minister Peter Peacock.
Mr Peacock said that new and more flexible approaches to training are needed to recruit more Gaelic teachers.
As well as considering the current nature of Gaelic medium teacher training, the group will look at ways to promote Gaelic teacher recruitment and consider the existing routes into Gaelic medium teaching.
The group will also consider how to encourage Gaelic speaking teachers currently teaching through the medium of English.
Among the innovative solutions which could be considered are:
- More distance learning or part-time teacher training courses
- Intensive language courses to help potential Gaelic teachers reach the language requirements.
Speaking on the day of the Stage 1 debate on the Gaelic Language Bill, Mr Peacock said:
"Gaelic medium education is a great success - more and more young people are now being educated through the medium of Gaelic and these youngsters are the future for the language.
"But we need to do more to ensure that Gaelic medium education does not become a victim of its own success. We now have pupils who have spent their entire primary career in Gaelic medium units - but when they reach secondary school the opportunities available to them can be patchy.
"Glasgow's new Gaelic medium secondary school, coupled with the virtual secondary network currently being established, will go a long way to address the problem. But these solutions also create even greater demand for Gaelic medium teachers, particularly in secondary schools.
"There are many fluent Gaelic speakers who might not have considered a teaching career - perhaps because they can't study full-time or don't live near a teacher training college. That's why we need to introduce more flexible approaches - like part-time courses or distance learning - to meet the needs of all those who want to teach.
"There's also a vast pool of existing teachers, working in Scottish schools, who could teach in Gaelic but choose not to. We will look at why this is happening - possibly because of a perceived lack of opportunity or stability - and address the issue urgently.
"I don't just want to see Gaelic survive I want to see it thrive. I firmly believe that education is key to achieving this aim. That's why I have set up the action group to look at recruitment and retention issues and suggest innovative solutions."
The group, which will produce a national action plan by May, will be chaired by Matthew MacIver, chief executive and registrar of the General Teaching Council for Scotland. He said:
"I am very happy indeed to accept the invitation to chair the action group on recruiting more Gaelic teachers.
"The success of Gaelic medium education over the recent past has created a need for more teachers. What we as a group have to do is to explore new ways of attracting new teachers, new ways of delivering teacher education and also attract existing teachers into teaching Gaelic.
"We need to be creative and imaginative in our thinking. Above all, we want to ensure that the success story that is Gaelic medium education is not only maintained but developed. That is particularly important for the secondary school sector.
"I am confident that this group will play a significant part in ensuring that we have enough teachers to strengthen the language both at primary and secondary levels. That is going to be of critical importance in giving confidence to the Gaelic community as it enters an exciting new era."
The Gaelic Medium Education Teacher Recruitment and Supply Action Group will include representatives from the General Teaching Council for Scotland, councils, teacher training institutions, Management Review Group of local authorities Gaelic education provision, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, HMIE and the Scottish Executive.
The group's remit is to consider the following areas.
- Promoting Gaelic medium education teacher recruitment
- Gaelic medium education initial teacher education
- Routes into Gaelic medium education
- Resources for Gaelic teaching.
Bòrd na Gàidhlig will be expected to keep the national plan under review and updated in the future.
There are currently two distance-learning courses offering training for Gaelic medium teachers - based at Aberdeen University and Stornoway's Lews Castle College. The first intake from Aberdeen will complete their courses in June when 20 primary and five secondary students are expected to graduate.
The latest figures show that, in 2003, 233 primary teachers were able to teach through Gaelic but only 152 were currently doing so. In secondary schools, 101 teachers were able to teach through Gaelic but just 26 were doing so.
Latest figures, for 2003/04, show that there were 1,236 pre-school pupils in Gaelic medium education, 1,972 in primary and 284 in secondary. In addition, there were 2,513 Gaelic learners in secondary school.
The recent Education Committee report on the Gaelic Language Bill recommended that the Executive should take the lead role in ensuring that sufficient Gaelic medium teachers recruited and retained.