Statement – 04.08.2020

A spokesperson for Bòrd na Gàidhlig board, said:

“Our continued development of and investment in Gaelic is constantly delivering positive results. This year alone Bòrd na Gàidhlig is working with 68 public authorities on Gaelic language plans, and since April has established a new fund to support organisations impacted on by the COVID-19 situation, and to date, has provided £1million to more than 60 organisations to help them deliver Gaelic services and projects across the whole of Scotland. In addition, we are providing regular input to government consultations on the impact of COVID-19 on all policy areas that are important to Gaelic.

“Our initiative with partners to deliver support to young people using Gaelic at home, has delivered thousands of activity sessions online during lockdown and will continue to create more opportunities in the coming months, and we have agreed with our main partners alternative ways to deliver the activities that we fund. The number of children learning through Gaelic medium education has risen in the past 12 months by 10%, and the number of Gaelic teachers has increased by 5% this year, which represent an increase of 33% in the past 10 years.”