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Am Bratach No. 216
Councillor calls for committee upgrade George Farlow, SNP councillor for North West and Central Sutherland, has called on The Highland Council again for recognition of the Gaelic Committee equal to that of other strategic committees rather than hanging on the coattails of the education culture and sport service. The Gaelic committee of the Highland Committee met in Ullapool last Friday (September 25). A resident of Ullapool, Councillor Farlow said: “There is tremendous support for Gaelic in Wester Ross and North West Sutherland and I wanted to come here today to congratulate local people for their efforts in giving our children the higher standard of achievement that goes with Gaelic-medium education. My thanks though to Highland Council for recognising the aspirations on the west coast and coming to Ullapool to show that support. “But at the same time it’s disappointing that the meeting clashed with the Wester Ross Mod in Poolewe and that parents of Gaelic-speaking schoolchildren were unable not only to see the committee in action but also to have their demands for greater support for Gaelic up and down the west coast addressed and to move smarter and faster on the appointments of the many vacancies in the services. The financial support is in place as are the structures — what we need now is action and delivery.” At the committee meeting, it was once again noted the current small pool of Gaelic speakers available for not only teaching positions but also for educational support. However, as a result of questioning from Councillor John Finnie it materialised that two posts had yet to be advertised and had still to be approved by Highland Council’s resources committee at the next but one meeting in December even though most of the funding was from Bòrd na Gàidhlig. Equally the long outstanding vacancy for a Gaelic education development officer prompted discussion on the necessity of some compromise on the qualifications in order to start to fulfil the aspirations of parents in Lochbroom, Assynt and Scourie. Members noted the higher attainment of children taught through the medium of Gaelic and that the benefits of being bilingual and multi-lingual shone through in the latest round of examinations. Maintaining and improving the quality of Gaelic education included continuous monitoring by Highland Council quality improvement officers. A report from the Gaelic development officer showed that the recently proposed changes by the Highland Council involving the watering down of its bilingual sign policy was seen by Bòrd na Gàidhlig not to be a minor amendment. The committee was reminded by the SNP Group Leader that the SNP Group had in June voted in favour of the status quo and agreed with the bòrd that this was indeed a major departure from the policy of equal respect across Highland for the Gaelic language. “It was disappointing that the council was pursuing a policy of acquiescence,” he said. Members continued their day attending a course on Gaelic cultural and language awareness and lessons at Ullapool Primary School where they met children in the Gaelic-medium unit, including Robert Farlow in P5, young son of Councillor Farlow, all working away at learning their decimal sums in Gaelic even on a warm autumnal Friday afternoon.
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