Gaelic

Gaelic has been spoken in Scotland for more than 1,500 years and, although its use has declined over the centuries, it remains a valuable part of Scotland's cultural identity.

In 2005 we passed the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 to give Gaelic greater protection and prominence and work towards securing its status as an official language of Scotland.

Gaelic Language Plan

The 2005 Act led to the creation of our Gaelic language board, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, which advises Ministers on matters relating to Gaelic language, culture and education. The board is able to request that public bodies develop Gaelic Language Plans to set out how they will promote the use of Gaelic.

We published our third Gaelic Language Plan in October 2022, following a Gaelic Language Plan consultation in 2021. This plan provides further details on how we are supporting Gaelic.

Education

We support Gaelic Medium Education (GME), where a child's education is delivered through the medium of Gaelic, via a number of policies and funding streams.

The Education (Scotland) Act 2016 supports Gaelic through the following provisions:

the parent of a child who hasn't yet started school may request that their local education authority assesses the need for GME in their area
every education authority must promote the potential provision of GME and support any existing Gaelic educational provision in the authority area
Bòrd na Gàidhlig has a duty to produce statutory guidance for Gaelic Education

In addition to the normal education block funding, local authorities may also apply for two sources of funding designed to support Gaelic education at all levels:

the Gaelic Education Specific Grant, to help support Gaelic provision in their area
the Gaelic Schools Capital fund, to help expand GME in their area

There are a range of measures in place to encourage young people to take up courses in Gaelic teaching. These include:

distance learning courses
part-time courses
conversion courses

Find out more about learning Gaelic via the LearnGaelic website. If you are interested in learning Gaelic you can consult the SpeakGaelic website.

In addition, we are supporting Bòrd na Gàidhlig's teacher recruitment campaign.

Organisations

There are a wide range of Gaelic development organisations that receive funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, as well as other funding bodies.

These organisations are:

Broadcasting

The Gaelic TV channel BBC ALBA launched in 2008, providing vital support for the language.

We directly fund MG ALBA, one of the partners in BBC ALBA, with approximately £13 million of funding each year.

Gaelic radio services are available on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and some commercial and community radio services.

Demographics

The total number of people recorded as being able to speak, read, write and/or understand Gaelic in the 2022 census was 130,161. Of these, the total number of people who speak Gaelic was 69,701. This was the first census return since 1971 to show an increase in the number of people reporting an ability to speak Gaelic.

Council of Europe Charter

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was adopted in 1992 to help protect Europe's languages and encourage their use. The UK Government ratified the Charter in 2001 in respect of Welsh in Wales, Scots and Gaelic in Scotland and Ulster-Scots and Irish in Northern Ireland.

Gàidhlig

Tha daoine air a bhith a' bruidhinn sa Ghàidhlig ann an Alba airson còrr is 1,500 bliadhna agus, ged a tha i air crìonadh thairis air na linntean, tha i fhathast na pàirt luachmhor de dhearbh-aithne chultarail na h-Alba. Tha dleastanas oirnn mar luchd-glèidhidh na Gàidhlig an cànan dhùthchasach seo a dhìon.

Chaidh Achd na Gàidhlig (Alba) 2005 aontachadh airson tèarainteachd agus follais a bharrachd a thoirt don Ghàidhlig is gus obrachadh a dh’ionnsaigh inbhe a’ chànain a ghlèidheadh mar chànan oifigeil na h-Alba.

Plana Gàidhlig

Stèidhich Achd 2005 Bòrd na Gàidhlig, a tha a' toirt comhairle do Mhinistearan air cùisean co-cheangailte ri cànan, cultar agus foghlam na Gàidhlig. Faodaidh am Bòrd iarraidh air buidhnean poblach Planaichean Gàidhlig a dheasachadh a mhìnicheas mar a bhrosnaicheas iad cleachdadh na Gàidhlig.

Chaidh an treas Plana Gàidhlig fhoillseachadh ann an 2022, às dèidh co-chomhairleachadh ann an 2021. Faodar barrachd fiosrachaidh air an taic a tha Riaghaltas na h-Alba a' toirt dhan Ghàidhlig sa Phlana seo.

Foghlam

Tha sinn a' toirt taic do dh'Fhoghlam tron Ghàidhlig (FtG), far a bheil clann a' faighinn am foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig, tro ar poileasaidhean agus maoineachadh.

Tha Achd an Fhoghlaim (Alba) 2016 a' toirt taic don Ghàidhlig tro na solaran a leanas:

faodaidh pàrant le pàiste nach eil air tòiseachadh san sgoil fhathast iarraidh air an ùghdarras foghlaim aca measadh a dhèanamh den iarrtas airson FtG san sgìre aca
feumaidh gach ùghdarras foghlaim cur air adhart gum faodar FtG iarraidh agus taic a thoirt do dh'fhoghlam Gàidhlig a th' anns an sgìre aca mu thràth
tha dleastanas air Bòrd na Gàidhlig Stiùireadh Reachdail airson Foghlam Gàdhlig fhoillseachadh

A bharrachd air am maoineachadh àbhaisteach a tha iad a' faighinn a thaobh foghlam, faodaidh ùghdarrasan ionadail cuir a-steach airson dà mhaoin sònraichte airson taic a thoirt do dh'fhoghlam Gàidhlig aig gach ìre:

an Tabhartas Sònraichte airson Foghlam Gàidhlig, airson taic a thoirt do sholar Gàidhlig san sgìre aca
a’ Mhaoin Chalpa airson Sgoiltean Gàidhlig, airson cuideachadh le leudachadh ann am FtG san sgìre aca

Tha sgeamaichean ann gus daoine òga a bhrosnachadh gus trèanadh a bhith nan luchd-teagaisg na Gàidhlig. Nam measg gheibhear:

cùrsaichean aig astar
cùrsaichean pàirt-ùine
cùrsaichean atharrachaidh

Faigh tuilleadh fiosrachaidh mu ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig air làrach-lìn LearnGaelic no SpeakGaelic.

A bharrachd air seo, tha sinn a' cumail taic ris an iomairt airson luchd-teagaisg a thrusadh aig Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Buidhnean

Tha iomadh buidheann leasachaidh Gàidhlig a' faighinn maoineachadh bho Bhòrd na Gàidhlig, a bharrachd air buidhnean maoineachaidh eile. 'S iad na buidhnean seo:

Craoladh

Chaidh an t-sianal TBh Gàidhlig BBC ALBA a stèidheachadh ann 2008 ’s i a' toirt taic cudromach dhan chànan.

Tha sinn a' toirt seachad maoineachadh de mu £13 millean gach bliadhna gu MG ALBA, com-pàirtiche ann am BBC ALBA.

Gheibhear seirbhisean rèidio sa Ghàidhlig air BBC Radio nan Gàidheal agus air cuid de stèiseanan coimeirsealta agus coimhearsnachd.

Cunntasan-sluaigh

Ann an cunntas-sluaigh 2022 chaidh 130,161 duine gu h-iomlan a chlàradh le comas labhairt, leughaidh, sgrìobhaidh agus/neo tuigsinn sa Ghàidhlig. Nam measg tha comas labhairt sa Ghàidhlig aig 69,701. ’S e seo a’ chiad àm bho 1971 a sheall cunntas-sluaigh àrdachadh ann an àireamh luchd-labhairt na Gàidhlig.

Cairt Comhairle na h-Eòrpa

Chaidh Cairt Eòrpach airson Cànanan Sgìreil agus Mion-chànanan aontachadh ann an 1992 gus cuideachadh cànanan na h-Eòrpa a dhìon agus airson an cleachdadh a bhrosnachadh. Dhaingnich Riaghaltas na Rìoghachd Aonaichte a’ Chairt ann an 2001 a thaobh Cuimris sa Chuimridh, Gàidhlig agus Albais an Alba, agus Albais-Ulaidh agus Gàidhlig na h-Èireann ann an Èirinn a Tuath.

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