Welsh and Gaelic education
According to an article on Eurolang, education through the medium of Welsh is becoming so popular in Wales that there aren’t sufficient places in Welsh medium schools for all those who would like to attend them. As a result, the growth of Welsh medium education is being held up.
Increasing numbers of parents are wanting to send their children to Welsh medium schools, even in mainly English-speaking areas, such as Newport, where 31% of parents surveyed said they would probably send their kids to Welsh medium schools if such schools where available nearby.
At the same time enrolment in English medium schools has been dropping and many schools have empty places.
In other news, a brand new Gaelic medium school opened in Glasgow recently. It has 320 places and provides nursery, primary and secondary for children between the ages of 3 and 18.
Education through Welsh or Gaelic seems to be a very effective way for kids to acquire fluency in those languages, and the popularity of such education is encouraging.
Steve on 06 Feb 2007 at 8:03 pm #
This is brilliant news for Glasgow and Scotland, having a new campus built specifically to teach through the Gaelic medium. Glasgow has been the one Scottish city to retain a decent pocket of Gaelic speakers outside the Outer Hebrides.
I wonder, has there ever been any regional requests for schools to cater for Cornish, Manx etc?
Damien Ryan on 07 Feb 2007 at 10:58 am #
And in Ireland, Gaelic is practically dying out, most likely due to the fact that it’s mandatory until one leaves second level education.
Simon on 07 Feb 2007 at 1:15 pm #
Steve - there’s a Manx language primary school (Bunscoill Ghaelgagh) on the Isle of Man that teaches everything through the medium of Manx. There are also a number of Manx-medium playgroups around the island. Unfortunately there isn’t a Manx medium secondary school, though some Manx language tuition is available in many schools.