Scottish Gaelic-medium education
Scottish Gaelic-medium education
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Scottish Gaelic-medium education

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Scottish Gaelic-medium education

Scottish Gaelic-medium education (Scottish Gaelic: Foghlam tro Mheadhan na Gàidhlig; FtMG), also known as Gaelic-medium education (GME), is a form of education in Scotland that allows pupils to be taught primarily through the medium of Scottish Gaelic, with English being taught as the secondary language.

Gaelic-medium education is increasingly popular throughout Scotland, and the number of pupils who are in Gaelic-medium education has risen from 24 in 1985 (its first year) to 5,066 in 2021. As of 2017, the current figure is the highest number of Gaelic-medium education pupils in Scotland since the 2005 passage of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act by the Scottish Parliament. Not included in this figure are university students at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Lews Castle College, or Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle who are taking their degrees through the medium of Gaelic.

In 2021, 11,874 pupils in Scotland were receiving some kind of education in Gaelic representing 1.7% of the country's student population. This figure is higher than Scotland's overall proportion of Gaelic speakers which stood at 1.1% in 2011.

Nearly 5,100 students in Scotland were enrolled in Gaelic-medium education in 2021, a 92% increase over 2009 figures.

Fifteen of Scotland's thirty-two council areas offer Gaelic-medium education. Five of those fifteen have a higher than national average enrollment of students: Eilean Siar (39.1%); Highland (4.5%); Argyll & Bute (2.2%); Glasgow City (1.8%); and Edinburgh City (0.9%). The Comhairle nan Eilean Siar announced in 2020 that Gaelic-medium would become the default for primary-school entrants in the Outer Hebrides from August., and in 2021, 43% of primary school students in Na h-Eileanan Siar were in Gaelic-medium education. The strong majority of Gaelic-medium students are immersed in Gaelic only during their primary education years. 87% of all Gaelic-medium education pupils at the secondary level are located in just three council areas: Glasgow City (409 pupils); Na h-Eileanan Siar (386); and Highland (294).

Over 6,800 other pupils in Scotland were receiving instruction in Gaelic language courses in 2021.

In Na h-Eileanan Siar, nearly 100% of all pupils were receiving some form of Gaelic-language education in 2021. In second place was Argyll & Bute at 17.5%, with the Highland council area in third at 8.8%. On the reverse side, fourteen council areas had no students at all receiving any education in Gaelic.

There are an increasing number of dedicated Gaelic-medium schools in Scotland. The largest is Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu (Glasgow Gaelic School), established in 2006 and catering to pupils aged three to eighteen, the country's first 3–18 Gaelic-medium school. At the beginning of the 2020/21 academic year the school enrolled 391 students at the secondary level and 440 students at the primary level. The country's only other dedicated Gaelic-medium secondary school is Sgoil Lionacleit on the island of Benbecula in Na h-Eileanan Siar which enrolled 277 students in 2020/21. Several Gaelic language primary schools exist in the Western Isles. Outside that region, Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Inbhir Nis opened in 2007 in Inverness and serves pupils in class 1–7, as does Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce which opened in 2013 in the capital city of Edinburgh. Apart from the primary unit at Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu, Glasgow City operates two other GME primary schools: Bunsgoil Ghaidhlig Ghleann Dail (Glendale Gaelic Primary School) and Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Bhaile a' Ghobhainn (Govan Gaelic Primary School). In 2024 the city is expected to open a fourth Gaelic primary school in the Calton district. A new Gaelic-medium primary school, Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Loch Abar, opened in Caol near Fort William in 2015, and Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Phort Righ opened in Portree in 2018. Also in 2018 the Sgoil na Coille Nuaidh opened in Kilmarnock.

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