Defnyddiwr:Adda'r Yw/drafftiau/Addysg Aeleg yn yr Alban

Oddi ar Wicipedia


Gaelic education has recently been made a national priority by the Scottish Executive (see Scottish Parliament), and the requirement this places on local authorities to produce development plans and progress reports may help overcome two of the major difficulties experienced in Gaelic-medium education at present—a lack of overall planning and a shortage of teachers. Despite these shortcomings, Gaelic-medium education has been described, with some justification, as ‘one of the success stories of recent Scottish education’ by the General Teaching Council of Scotland

Gaelic medium education (G.M.E. or GME; Gaeleg yr Alban: Foghlam tro Mheadhan na Gàidhlig) 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)[1] to 3,892 in 2016.[2] 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.[3][4][5]

However, some research has suggested that Gaelic medium education by itself is not enough for full bilingual competency in Gaelic, and it may be the pupils in primary Gaelic education who go on to use the language frequently as adults is limited.[6][7] Further qualitative and quantitative research is underway to articulate take up and the impact of changing strategies over time.

Hanes[golygu | golygu cod]

Gorfodwyd addysg gynradd drwy gyfrwng y Saesneg yn unig ar holl blant yr Alban gan Ddeddf Addysg (Yr Alban) 1872. The act mandated the exclusive use of English-medium education in Scotland, in effect banning Scottish Gaelic medium education. For this reason it is credited with causing substantial harm to the Scottish Gaelic language and contributing to its overall decline.[8][9] The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 effectively put an end to non-English medium education and repressed Gaelic with pupils being punished for speaking the language.[10] Pupils were belted if caught speaking in Gaelic and beaten again if they did not reveal the names of other students speaking Gaelic.[8] The effect of the education act upon the Gaelic language has been described as "disastrous"[11] and by denying the value of Gaelic culture and language, contributed to destroying the self-respect of Gaelic communities.[12] It was a continuation of a general policy (by both Scottish and, after 1707, British governments) which aimed at Anglicisation.[11]

As a result of facing punishment and humiliation for speaking Gaelic, many parents decided not to pass on the language to their children, resulting in language shift.[13] Scottish Gaelic medium education was not established until the 1980s, and the impact of the Act is still being felt in Gaelic communities today.[8][12]


  1. "Scotland's Languages: Gaelic". Education Scotland. Cyrchwyd 23 June 2014.
  2. ceu@scotland.gsi.gov.uk, Scottish Government, St. Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG Tel:0131 556 8400 (2016-12-12). "Pupil census 2016 supplementary data". www.gov.scot (yn Saesneg). Cyrchwyd 2017-04-28.
  3. "HRH visits Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Scotland's only Gaelic language college". Prince of Wales. 5 December 2015.
  4. "Gàidhlig agus Conaltradh Certhe". Lews Castle College (yn Gaeleg yr Alban). University of Highlands and Islands. Cyrchwyd 15 January 2017.
  5. "About us". Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle. Cyrchwyd 7 January 2017.
  6. Wilson McLeod, University of Edinburgh Bernadette O’Rourke, Heriot-Watt University Stuart Dunmore, University of Edinburgh. "'New Speakers' of Gaelic in Edinburgh and Glasgow" (PDF). Soillse. Cyrchwyd 13 January 2017.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Gwall cyfeirio: Tag <ref> annilys; ni roddwyd testun ar gyfer 'ref' o'r enw Dunmore 80
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 "1872 Education Act's impact on Gaelic to be explored". BBC News Online. Cyrchwyd 13 January 2017.
  9. Robertson, Boyd (2001). Gaelic: the Gaelic language in education in the UK. Leeuwarden: Mercator-Education.
  10. Smakman, Dick; Smith-Christmas, Cassandra. "Gaelic Language Erosion and Revitalization on the Isle of Skye, Scotland" (PDF). University of Leiden.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Jones, Charles (1997). The Edinburgh history of the Scots language. Edinburgh University Press. t. 568. Cyrchwyd 22 November 2011.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Hunter, James (3 July 2014). On the Other Side of Sorrow: Nature and People in the Scottish Highlands. Birlinn. Cyrchwyd 15 January 2017.
  13. Dunbar, Robert (27 October 1999). "The European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages: Some Reflections from a Scottish Gaelic Perspective". In Fottrell, Deirdre; Bowring, Bill (gol.). Minority and Group Rights in the New Millennium. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. t. 117. Cyrchwyd 13 January 2017.