Hansard

Following the rather fraught scenes of yesterday afternoon, with ministers scurrying back and forward with hastily scribbled notes, I am delighted to offer reassurance to the Government front bench and extend the hand of friendship across the chamber.

"Aonaichibh ri chèile airson math nan uile"—unite together for the good of everybody; who knows, perhaps John Swinney is saying that right now to Andy Kerr. I hope that today's debate will show that, if the will is there, consensus between all parties can be reached. I hope and believe that that is the case for Gaelic.

I am pleased to see the familiar faces of those who make common cause on behalf of Gaelic, but the members who we need to convince are not in the chamber. The future of the language breaks down not on party lines, but between those who are supportive of the language and those who remain to be convinced of Gaelic's linguistic, social, cultural and historic importance to all Scots.

The application of Gaelic plans by the Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, local authorities and soon every major institutional organisation in Scotland will make a real difference to the future of the language. Gaelic plans, such as that which is the subject of the debate, will help to normalise the language in everyday life in Scotland. We may not use the language, but we will see it in use. Through that familiarity, I very much hope and expect that ignorance of Gaelic, which can lead to suspicion and hostility, will be reduced.

The Scottish Government plan is very much what I expected it to be. For the most part, it is a description not of Government policy but of how the institution of Government can use and promote Gaelic. It contains detailed advice on how Gaelic can be used in signage, e-mails, letterheads and publications and at meetings. It also sets out how employment policies and working practices can be modified to give the language a profile that is more fitting to its status.

I am sure that the consultation will help to shore up any obvious oversights or omissions. The intent is clear for the public service to set a public example on the respect to be shown to the Gaelic language. My one critical observation is that the very brief paragraph on how the plan will be resourced is rather bare and unconvincing. That said, if the proposals as outlined are implemented, they will make a big difference to the institutional promotion of Gaelic.

The plan that we are debating today, and those of other bodies, came about as a result of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, which the previous Executive introduced. I hope that we all take pride in this piece of legislation. The steps that are being taken under the act will secure and stabilise the language. We should make no mistake: if we do not see progress, the language will die out. Like many members in the chamber, I have attended too many funerals in Skye and elsewhere at which people have not only mourned a loved one or friend, but felt that we were burying part of the Gaelic language. We need to save the language and do more; we need to grow Gaelic.

The plan touches on the Scottish Government's policy on Gaelic-medium education; we need to make progress in that area more than in any other. Earlier this week, a parent at the Gaelic-medium education unit at Tolcross primary school in Edinburgh told me of the importance of such schools moving on to the next stage. Like other parents of children at Gaelic units in schools around Scotland, she likes and is proud of her school—not just the Gaelic unit, but the whole school. However, she knows that Gaelic-medium education must develop further. The two most important developments are to secure more all-Gaelic schools and to expand what is available and on offer at secondary schools.

In our previous debate on Gaelic, a members' business debate that was secured by Alasdair Allan, I spoke about the importance of an all-Gaelic school environment—schools in which all pupils are taught through the medium of Gaelic and none through the medium of English. I will try not to repeat too many of the points that I made then, but it is worth noting the clear benefits of all-Gaelic schools educationally, as well as in pupils' Gaelic language development. Children who are taught all their subjects in Gaelic, rather than in English, are known to achieve well and to enjoy all the additional benefits of bilingualism.

Over the past 20 or so years, Gaelic-medium units have flourished across Scotland, attracting ever-increasing numbers of pupils, but many of them are now full or have limited places; in effect, we are capping the aspiration of many families to give their children a Gaelic-medium education. Glasgow, in particular, has shown that by establishing a Gaelic-medium school we can attract more pupils, many of whom—as all members present know—are learners with no Gaelic in the home. We should pay tribute to Glasgow City Council for its record of supporting Gaelic, not only because it is second to none but because the council has pioneered many of the most important developments in Gaelic-medium education. Since it established its all-Gaelic school, the pupil roll has doubled. There is now a distinct possibility of a second all-Gaelic primary to meet the demand that exists. Parent groups across the country—in Edinburgh, Skye, Dingwall, Portree and Fort William—want to follow Glasgow's example.

Such proposals are not without difficulty or even, potentially, controversy; each case will have to be considered and resolved locally. However, the principle of providing central support for such initiatives is crucial. We need to attract successive generations to Gaelic-medium education. I commend the Government on setting up a fund of £2.7 million to assist the capital development of schools, but—to give it a Gaelic welcome—I believe that that is a modest start.

Glasgow has not only expanded Gaelic-medium education at primary level but established a Gaelic-medium secondary school. That is a critical area. At the moment, the promise of many of our youngest Gaelic learners, which was developed and flourishing in primary school, comes up against the harsh reality of high school. The implicit lesson is that, if someone wants to get on, it is an English-speaking world—the serious business of preparing pupils for exams and qualifications is done in English. However, there is every reason to believe that, if we had more Gaelic secondary schools, we would increase attainment further. We would improve the confidence of our learners, not to mention their fluency. Other significant benefits would be an increase in the supply of Gaelic-medium teachers and improved efficiency; ironically, this is one of the few areas in which we might want class sizes to increase rather than decrease.

Everyone else in the world takes the all-school approach. Worldwide experience of successful minority language development supports the use of the whole-school immersion teaching model. Scotland is unusual in having persisted with units inside schools for so long. In both Wales and Ireland, where there are equally remote and rural communities, the whole-school model has been used almost universally. Our approach to Gaelic-medium education, like our approach to the Gaelic language plan, should be about equality—equality of esteem and equality of access. It should be about treating Gaelic as a normal part of life in Scotland. We are doing this not for the good of the Gaels—not for a small group, however special—but for the good of us all. The traditional Gaelic communities may not be able to keep the language alive by themselves. The future lies with the learners and the support of the wider community. The Gaelic language plan is part of winning that support.