The new appointment of Arthur Cormack to Bord na Gaidhlig has been welcomed by the Cultural Minister Michael Russell, who is also going to announce the bord’s new Chief Executive in the next few months.

Arthur Cormack is a well known figure in Gaelic circles with many interests within the Arts community and  sees Gaelic as being in an “era of opportunity and goodwill”.  He is keen to develop “innovative ways of enabling current and future generations of Gaelic speakers to use the language in a variety of situations”.

This can only be good for the campaign for a Gaelic School in Edinburgh as the most progressive way of developing a future generation of fluent Gaelic speakers in the East Coast.

The Stornoway Gazzette reported today that in their new electronic Atlas, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has listed Scottish Gaelic as one of around 2,500 languages spoken around the world that are in danger of disappearing.

The Atlas states that out of the approximately 6,000 existing languages in the world, more than 200 have become extinct during the last three generations, 538 are critically endangered, 502 severely endangered, 632 definitely endangered and 607 unsafe.

In their interview with Hugh Dan Maclennan of Bord na Gaidhlig, Maclennan stated that “this Atlas is a statistical bank of knowledge and the report about Gaelic gives the Bord a justification for looking for resources and support to take the language forward.”

The Bord is currently focussing on the Gaelic Language Plans being put into place by the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and Public Bodies.  In addition to this it is encouraged by the larger than anticipated audiences BBC ALBA is attracting and the continued debate over Gaelic Medium Education in Scotland.

With the success of GME in Glaschu and the Highlands and Islands it would seem now is the perfect time to set up a similar Gaelic educational model in Edinburgh and really start to increase the number of children speaking the language throughout the East Coast.  Not only will this create the next generation of fluent Gaelic speakers, but their parents and extended families will most likely take an interest in the language and may even go on to become adult learners themselves.

Yesterday the BBC reported that there has been an upward trend in the popularity of children taught in Gaelic, Welsh and Irish.  In Scotland, the most up to date figures come from 2007, which showed 2061 children going through GME (compared to 112 in 1997).  In Wales, 20% of kids are taught through the medium of Welsh.

They put this down to 3 things:

1. parental realisation that bilingualism is an advantage at school boosting learning ability
2. that Devolution has affected educational change in the newly formed Parliaments
3. increased confidence and identity within the newly devolved nations making up the UK

Professior Colin Baker from the University of Bangor is quoted as saying,

“bilingual children have an advantgae in terms of intelligence” & “they actually have a higher IQ”.

He concludes that in today’s globalised world people want to put down roots and create an identity – speaking their own indigenous language meets these emotional needs.  All very positive for the future development of Gaelic as a language and an education model here in Scotland

UHI is looking for a Gaelic project co-ordinator; Gaelic technology service developer; Gaelic communication co-ordinator; Gaelic human resources and staff development project manager; staff development administrator; Gaelic academic development project manager, and Gaelic academic development administrator – these posts will be based between Skye, Inverness and Stornoway.

These 7 new posts have been made possible through external funding (for 21 months) from the European Social Fund (ESF) and Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s Gaelic Language Act Implementation fund.

Anna Walker, UHI’s Gaelic strategy development officer is quoted as saying “We welcome the opportunity to increase our Gaelic services and learning opportunities over the next four years”

UHI is legally obliged to comply with the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, to develop a Gaelic Language Plan 2009-2013 and these posts will ensure that their Gaelic plan is fully implemented.

Premier Business Development, the company commissioned by Edinburgh Council to undertake the Feasibility Study into Gaelic in Edinburgh would like to meet with as many parents with children in Gaelic Medium Education as possible to get a representative view of how they would like GME to develop in Edinburgh.

To assist in this, a meeting has been organised for Monday 9th February, in the Gaelic Community Conference Room, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. Edinburgh, EH11 1BG – 7pm-9pm.

If you have children at the Tollcross Gaelic Unit and would like to attend you would be more than welcome.  This will be your last chance to have your thoughts and opinions heard before this study is completed.