Gaelic course for early years staff
Apart-time postgraduate course for early years practitioners wishing to work in Gaelic-medium pre-school education is being developed by Aberdeen University, building on its existing BA in Early Childhood Studies. The pre-school programme is due to be launched in August, alongside a postgraduate qualification for primary school teachers. The new programmes, both provided on a distance learning model, follow discussions between Highland Council and staff at the university on ways to solve staffing shortages in Gaelic-medium education and will seek to boost Gaelic services in nurseries, playgroups and schools, as well as the use of the language at home.
The pre-school programme is due to be launched in August, alongside a postgraduate qualification for primary school teachers. The new programmes, both provided on a distance learning model, follow discussions between Highland Council and staff at the university on ways to solve staffing shortages in Gaelic-medium education and will seek to boost Gaelic services in nurseries, playgroups and schools, as well as the use of the language at home.
Lynne Schiach, director of the university's B.Ed programme, said that so far there was very little training available for Gaelic-medium educators in pre-school settings. She said she felt confident that the distance learning approach would help to counter staff shortages in the primary sector by enabling people living in remote areas to access training.
At present, students on the B.Ed course who are native Gaelic speakers, or who have learned the language as part of their training, can do a placement in a Gaelic-medium primary school. One of this year's students undertook her placement in the Gilcomston Gaelic- medium nursery in Aberdeen.
Fionnlagh MacLeoid, chief executive of the Gaelic Pre-School Council, welcomed the announcement and said the programmes would be helpful.
However, he added, 'The biggest difficulty is a lack of courses for learning Gaelic to fluency. If we are serious about increasing the numbers of Gaelic teachers, there must be full-time immersion courses in the language.'
Mr MacLeoid said that the Gaelic sector needs about 500 people, including field officers such as psychologists and social workers, as well as teachers, over the next seven years, and because of the uncertainty over staffing, many parents are holding back from a Gaelic education for their children.
