Teachers offered pay rise... to give lessons in Gaelic
TEACHERS who relocate to Scotland’s capital city are to be offered a pay rise – but only if they conduct lessons in Gaelic.
In a controversial move to promote the language, they are being lured to Edinburgh with incentives which also include perks such as help buying a house.
Edinburgh City Council argues that teachers deserve the extra support because of their ‘workload demands’ – and reckon the incentives will help preserve the ‘extremely fragile’ tongue.
A newly published draft report says that although only 1.7 per cent of residents have any grasp of it, the city has ‘played a key role in Gaelic life for centuries’ and is ‘home to some of the nation’s foremost bards’.
However, with the Scottish education system facing an acute staffing shortage, the council is struggling to recruit teachers to cover core subjects.
At present 24 posts are advertised, including five in maths and four for head teachers. No Gaelic positions are listed.
One school, Trinity Academy, had to ask parents to help out with maths tuition after two posts were advertised twice without success, and last night campaigners urged education chiefs to focus on the basics. TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive John O’Connell said: ‘Taxpayers expect services to be focused on teaching children to a high standard in subjects that will help them in later life. The council should focus on providing essential services efficiently.’
One teacher slated the proposal, saying: ‘This is an outrageous waste of time and money. Experienced teachers in core subjects struggle to give pupils the attention they deserve. Where is the help for them?’
The council’s Gaelic Language Plan says the capital has ‘a special responsibility to nurture’ the language. Around 350 children attend Gaelic primary school in Edinburgh.
General Secretary of teaching union NASUWT, Chris Keates, said: ‘We are concerned that offering enhancements only in cherry-picked subjects ignores the far wider recruitment crisis.’
Lewis Ritchie, of the council’s Gaelic steering group, said: ‘Our duty is to empower our young people to allow them to achieve their full potential. Gaelic medium education is one means, but it’s incorrect to assume that this is at the expense of other pupils.’
Last week, the MoS revealed doctors and nurses who do not speak Gaelic could be barred from working in the NHS.