Gaelic and Scots

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 15 November 2022.

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Photo of Jim Fairlie Jim Fairlie Scottish National Party

I stand corrected, and absolutely in the member’s shadow.

Starting in primary 1, the GME classes follow exactly the same curriculum as for English-language education, but most lessons are taught in Gaelic. As the children learn a particular subject, be it maths or history, they are also picking up another language. From primary 3 onwards, English is introduced so that pupils are bilingual by the time that they reach primary 7.

There is a wee bit of an issue there, in that we need to consider whether primary 1 is in fact young enough to be starting with that; I know that Goodlyburn primary is trying to introduce early years education as well. It is well known that there are many developmental benefits to kids learning Gaelic, beyond learning to speak a different code. Research shows that children who understand more than one language are able to think more flexibly and creatively and tend to demonstrate more focus in multitasking—clearly something that I have not learned. Furthermore, in later life, being bilingual offers many career opportunities, and studies show that it may also keep the brain sharper for longer in later years.

It is a great policy, and I wish that it had been more readily accessible, or even that it had been available, when I was a laddie. I sincerely hope that there will be clear pathways for the children at Goodlyburn to continue their education in Gaelic into the next stage of their life, as they move on to secondary school. I hope that the Scottish Government’s commitment to support and grow Gaelic education will deliver tangible results, such as wider availability of such education for more kids in the coming years. When the kids go to secondary school, there may perhaps be value in looking at the Covid solution to teaching Gaelic at Goodlyburn primary, through the use of things such as e-Sgoil or Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig. The cabinet secretary might want to address how we are going to develop Gaelic-medium education in secondary schools.

It is hugely encouraging to see youngsters with a keen interest in speaking Gaelic—a language that is thriving. The Scottish social attitudes survey revealed that the number of Scots who speak some Gaelic has doubled in the past decade, and globally, upwards of 449,000 people have used Gaelic Duolingo. Well done to Emma Harper for starting the campaign to include Scots, too.

Members will recall that real belter of a speech given by Billy Kay at time for reflection back in April 2022. He highlighted how important it is to future generations that the tongue they speak is not out of place in the Scotland where they live. The language in which we do most of our business here in the Parliament is English, which is socially, politically and economically dominant in our culture and society. However, we should never lose sight of how important the native languages here in Scotland are to our land and our people. There are 1.5 million people who speak Scots, as Billy Kay said,

“fae Maidenkirk tae Johnny Groats and ayont”.—[

Official Report

, 26 April 2022; c 1.]

For those people it represents an important symbol of their identity, history and culture and oor intangible heritage.

Last month, while I was climbing Kilimanjaro, the royal national Mòd took place in Perth—Murdo Fraser talked about that earlier. I am glad to say that it was reported as being a huge success.

I am proud that our Parliament recognises that Scotland is a nation of different folk, cultures and languages. It is important that we protect and enhance the richness of our linguistic diversity. Languages such as Gaelic and Scots contribute to the ecological balance of our society in the same way that biodiversity does in nature. We must protect that diversity by supporting the Scottish Government’s aim to turn up the volume for our Gaelic and Scots-speaking communities in this chamber, where we represent the folk. However, to quote Billy Kay again:

“mair important than thon, ye wull gie a signal tae the weans in the schuil that the culture o their hame is valued by fowk electit by their mithers an faithers.”—[

Official Report

, 26 April 2022; c 2.]

That is no slang as we were aince telt, but is the language of oor ain kith and kin.