Hansard

Good afternoon, Presiding Officer and friends. I am very pleased to be taking part in this debate. This is a very special day, not only for our Gaelic language and culture, but for the history of Scotland. It is an important and historic day for the Scottish Parliament.

Before considering our hopes and aspirations for the future of our language, I would like to acknowledge the tremendous advances that have taken place in the promotion of Gaelic language, music and culture in the past 25 years. Twenty-five years ago we had a weekly half-hour record programme on radio and no television programmes—and very little support from local authorities or public agencies.

How things have changed. We now have a national radio service through the BBC. However, it is not yet complete, with a few important gaps that we hope will be filled in the near future, which minister of state Brian Wilson asked for on the BBC recently. There are programmes on radio and TV every day and we hope to have a Gaelic channel within five years.

There have been many developments over the past few years, especially in Gaelic-medium education. There are now about 60 Gaelic units in schools and a newly designated Gaelic school in Glasgow. Perhaps the greatest disappointment has been the fact that councillors in Edinburgh have refused to designate a Gaelic school for the parents there who wanted one—but perhaps that idea will come to fruition.

There are about 2,000 pupils in those Gaelic units, which is a great development. There are also 33 Gaelic-medium nursery units, supported by Comunn Nam Pàrant. We must ensure that those initiatives are given the resources that they require to continue to grow and expand, as dictated by parental demands. It is fundamental that parental rights be recognised in law and made secure. We need to look to the future to strengthen and secure what has already been achieved without the benefit of legislation. We are looking for the same kind of security that Welsh has in Wales and English has in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive recently announced its intention to train 150 Gaelic-medium teachers over the next seven years. That is welcome, given that the shortage of such teachers is threatening the undoubted success of Gaelic-medium education.

It is important that more time and money be spent on training teachers. We have to strengthen the healthy state of Gaelic and to encourage further linguistic competence in our schools. It should be remembered that there are shortages of teachers in Gaelic-medium primary and secondary education, and that in the secondary sector there are shortages of teachers of Gaelic as a subject. More effort and resources must be quickly directed to overcome this obstacle so that we can attract and retain the quality of teachers that we require. Special consideration should be given to the needs of potential students of Gaelic-medium education in the peripheral areas.

We should have a fresh look at the issue of funding. Do we want to continue the current fragmented system, or would it be more appropriate to allocate all Government funding for Gaelic to an agreed governing body such as Comunn na Gàidhlig, who would act as agents of the Scottish Executive and be responsible to it? We are sure that Gaelic communities must have a greater say about how money is spent; we are also sure that that money must be spent from the one purse.

The success that we acknowledge today has been achieved by the dedication and hard work of many individuals, groups and agencies and by the support of all political parties. I hope that that will continue in the Scottish Parliament and I support the cross-party proposals. Furthermore, I welcome the proposed appointment of a Gaelic officer, who will keep us informed of Gaelic developments.

We must not be timid or afraid to support our language and culture, no matter how difficult or impossible such a vision may seem. Twenty-five years ago, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college in Skye, was just a dream. Today, a thriving, vibrant community lives and works at that college, doing excellent work and attracting students from many parts of the world. The newly completed Columba initiative building and the work of the Columba initiative is a testimony to the college's vision. We are also looking forward to the Gaelic task force's recommendations about the structure of Gaelic organisations.

As we are discussing minority languages, I want to give the chamber a little insight into a particular minority language issue. Papua New Guinea has a population of just under 5 million people—that is similar to Scotland's population—and consists of more than 600 islands, most of which are uninhabited. Although the country has 817 recognised living languages, the official language in the Parliament is Tok Pisin, a local form of pidgin English, which is the first language of fewer than 50,000 people or about 1 per cent of the population. Despite that, Tok Pisin has become the country's national language of governance and commerce.

Gaelic education should be treated the same as English education. The development of Gaelic would be a tribute to the Parliament's work. It is time that we gave rights to people and it would be a disgrace if the Gaelic language died out. Keep Gaelic alive!