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Plenary, 29 Jan 2009

29 Jan 2009 · S3 · Plenary

Item of business

Gaelic Language Plan

Smith, Liz Con Mid Scotland and Fife Watch on SPTV

Like all other members in this debate, I warmly welcome the motion and the amendment. It is essential that we recognise the importance of the Gaelic language and culture in Scotland today. However, unlike all the other members who have spoken so far, I am not going to attempt to speak any Gaelic. Despite my passion for Scotland's Munros, I have never mastered Gaelic and it would be purgatorial for members to have to listen to my attempts to speak it.

I come from a party that, as Ted Brocklebank rightly said, has given considerable support to Gaelic in the past. The Scottish Conservatives have always understood that Gaelic is an essential part of our heritage and, indeed, our social fabric. If nothing else, it is important to reassure the 58,000 or so people who speak Gaelic that they have the Parliament's full support. That number is very close to the figure of 50,000, which is regarded as the minimum number of speakers who are needed to sustain a language. In the light of the decline that took place in the 1990s, they need that reassurance for the reasons that Johann Lamont set out in her thought-provoking speech.

It is also important to congratulate all those who have been involved in preparing the draft Scottish Government Gaelic language plan consultation paper—that is as difficult for me to pronounce as the Gaelic—which has been launched today. The plan will join others from various public bodies to ensure that the recommendations of the national plan for Gaelic are met. It is good that the Gaelic board is making such progress. I understand that the next tranche of public bodies to be asked for their Gaelic plans will be the national education organisations. I am pleased about that because education is so important for the future of the language.

On such an occasion it is important to mention the progress of Gaelic-medium education and of Gaelic education in general. The growth in the development of Gaelic-medium education is one of the great success stories of Scottish education in the past 25 years. More than 2,000 children throughout Scotland are now taught through the medium of Gaelic, and the exciting development is the fact that so many of them are in primary schools.

We welcome the development of new Gaelic schools in Glasgow and Inverness. Research has shown the benefits of bilingualism in the intellectual development of young people, and it is critical to the survival of the language that growth continues. The fact that it has taken place largely in the nursery and primary school sectors is a reflection of the marked improvement in the facilities that are available in schools such as Sleat primary school in Skye. That is a perfect example of what can be done.

As members have said, the worry is that, with budget cuts and times of economic uncertainty ahead, that progress will not be continued, so we must ensure that the children who have been taught through the medium of Gaelic at primary school can develop their language skills at secondary school. Much effort has been made in the recent past to recruit more Gaelic-speaking teachers. Although that has been relatively successful at primary school level, we desperately need to attract more teachers into secondary schools, not just to teach Gaelic but to teach other subjects through the medium of Gaelic. We must not lose the momentum that has been built up in the primary school sector; it would be a great shame if we could not continue it in secondary schools. That is a major area to be tackled, which will depend heavily on improvements in local authority workforce planning.

The Scottish Government's draft education plan mentions its commitment to the adoption of Murdo Fraser's proposal to introduce a legislative presumption against the closure of rural schools. That is very good news for the schools and communities where Gaelic has been a traditional feature.

The Scottish Conservatives are hugely supportive of the Government's ambition to support Gaelic speakers and to promote Gaelic in schools and in our arts and culture. Although it can never be right to force any language on a reluctant community, we believe firmly that parents should have the right to educate their children in the language of their choice. That is why we fully support the motion. I look forward to more success in Gaelic education in the future, and I am pleased that we can lend our support to the minister.

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Plenary, 29 Jan 2009

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