Gaelic medium education statistics › The Kellow Miscellany

Download – Gaelic Medium Education Statistics 2005-2016

Tha adhartais mòr air a bhith ann do dh’ fhoghlam tro meadhan na Gàidhlig ann an ùine ghoirid, agus gach bliadhna tha Riaghaltas na h-Alba a’ foillseachadh fiosrachadh le cunntas-sgoileirean a tha a’ sealltainn am meudachadh, neo lughdachadh, ann an àireamh sgoileirean na dùthcha.

Tha na figearan seo a’ gabhail a-steach ionadan ‘s sgoiltean Gàidhlig ann am bun-sgoiltean agus àrd-sgoiltean agus tha iad cuideachd a’ dèanamh sgaradh eadar sgoilearan ‘s an ìre fhoghlam a th’ aca, leithid fileantaich, luchd-ionnsachaidh neo a’ gabhail cuspairean tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig.

‘S e na rinn mi gun do chuir mi na figearan seo uile ann an spreadsheet, a gheibh sibh gu h-ìosal, a tha nas fhasa a chleachdadh airson faicinn de tha tachairt le foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig.

Tha na figearan iongantach ‘s iad a’ sealltainn far a bheil foghlam Gàidhlig as làidire ‘s far a bheil feum air barrachd obair fhathast. Tha an Earra-Ghàidheal, Ghlaschu ‘s Siorrachd Pheairt an àitichean far a bheil FtMG a’ meudachadh as fheàrr a thaobh co-roinn ‘s àireamhan sgoilearan, ach tha àitichean leithid a’ Ghàidhealtachd, Obair Dheathain ‘s Sruighlea a’ sealltainn figearan a tha na chùis iomagain.

Aon rud mu na figearan, ‘s e gu bheil iad beagan ceàrr a rèir choltais eadar 2008 ‘s 2010 – ged nach do thachair mòran a thaobh foghlaim san àm sin tha na àireamhan sgoileirean Gàidhlig sìor a’ dol sìos ‘s na h-Eileanan an Iar eadar na bliadhnaichean sin. Chan eil mi buileach cinnteach air dè thachair an sin, agus tha mi air doimhneachadh gu bheil an dàta ‘s an àireamhachadh agam ceart, ach chì sibh gu bheil cùisean glè neònach air a choireach sin.

Tha rudan beaga neònach cuideachd ‘san dàta far nach eil figearan ceart ann airson chomhairle, agus tha sin a’ sealltainn, mar eisimpleir, nach robh sgoileirean Gàidhlig idir ann an àrd-sgoiltean Obair Dheathain ged gun robh sgoileirean aig Acadamaidh Hazlehead fhathast.

Co-dhiù, tha na figearan cunntas-sgoileirean loma-làn dàta inntinneach mu foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig agus tha mi an dòchas gun e goireas feumail a th’ ann dhuibh.

‘S urrainn dhut an sheet Excel fhaighinn gu h-ìosal, le suim de na sgoileirean iomlan (a’ toirt a-steach diofair ìrean de sgoileirean a thaobh comas Gàidhlig) agus an dàta iomchaidh cuideachd. ‘S urrainn dhuibh na tùsan cuideachd fhaighinn gu h-ìosal neo anns an sheet cuideachd.

Gaelic medium education has come a long way in a short space of time, and each year the Scottish Government releases details of its pupils census that detail the growth, or decline, of the schooling figures across the country.

These figures cover both primary and secondary Gaelic medium units and schools, and they also breakdown speakers by their level of involvement: including GME, learner programs and also further subjects being taught in the language.

What I’ve done is collate all the figures into one single spreadsheet, downloadable below, to make it easy to track the progress of Gaelic education.

These figures show a fascinating insight as to where Gaelic education is strongest and where it continues to require work. Argyll & Bute, Glasgow and Perth & Kinross seem to be some of the strongest areas in terms of both percentage and overall pupil number growth, while areas such as the Highlands, Aberdeen and Stirling show worrying signs of decline in pupil enrolment.

One thing to note, however, is that the figures between 2008 and 2010 inclusive seem a little off – as no major developments happened in terms of education in these years yet the number of Gaelic speakers in education plummets significantly in the Western Isles. I’m not fully sure of what happens in those years, and I’ve checked my calculations on the data thoroughly, but it does skew the data quite significantly.

There are also some other anomalies in the data where some Council figures don’t get reported correctly, making it appear, for instance, that there was no Gaelic secondary provision in Aberdeen last year despite Hazlehead Academy still having Gaelic students.

On the whole, though, it’s a useful treasure trove of data to examine trends in Gaelic education and I hope you find it useful.

You can download the full Excel sheet, with a collation of ALL pupil numbers (which could include various learner levels) and all relevant data below. You can also find the sources in the sheet or below.

Download – Gaelic Medium Education Statistics 2005-2016