Go ahead for Gaelic school

Published on Wednesday 8 June 2011 11:42

A DEDICATED Gaelic school could open in the Capital as early as next year after education bosses threw their weight behind the plan.

Council chiefs have been looking at ways to deal with the growing numbers of Gaelic-speaking pupils for the past 18 months and have finally backed the proposal for a new school.

They had been considering two options - either to create the dedicated school in the former Bonnington Primary, or to extend the existing Gaelic Medium Education (GME) unit at Tollcross Primary.

Education director Gillian Tee today said: "After taking account of the representations made, the issues arising and the costs associated with either option, it is considered that a dedicated school offers the best educational outcome and associated best value."

Councillors will be asked to vote on the issue at a full council meeting on June 30.

If they agree with Ms Tee's recommendation, the new school would be up and running by next August, with pupils from the Tollcross unit moving across the city .

However, city education leader Councillor Marilyne MacLaren has already fired a warning shot about the costs involved.

Refurbishing the former Bonnington Primary, which closed in December 2008, will cost 1.6 million.

The Scottish Government has already said it will commit 1.4m - the original estimate for the work - to open up the new school.

However, the cost has increased by 225,000 due to damage to the building since it was vacated. Opening up a new school will cost an additional 381,000 in running costs for 2012/13 and the council would lose the expected 1m income from the sale of the old Bonnington building.

Council bosses held a public consultation into the future of Gaelic provision earlier this year. They received a total of 598 responses, with 94 per cent of them stating their preference for a dedicated school.

Cllr MacLaren said: "We have listened to all the points raised during the consultation and the recommendation being put before full council is for a dedicated Gaelic school.

"It is important, however, that before any decisions are made that we are clear how much it will cost to do this.

"The Scottish Government have given a commitment to 1.4m funding for the dedicated school only and nothing for the Tollcross option."

In the past six years, the number of pupils in the GME unit at Tollcross has risen from 90 to 158. However, the future of Tollcross Primary without the GME unit will come under scrutiny as the loss of the Gaelic pupils will leave the school just 45 per cent occupied.

Ms Tee, who previously stated she was "open minded" about which of the options was adopted, said the dedicated school offered a "fuller Gaelic language immersion experience" than the GME unit.

She said: "In comparison, the option to extend Tollcross cannot offer the level of immersion that a dedicated school can offer and, taking into consideration expected Scottish Government capital grant support for (the dedicated school] but not (expansion of Tollcross], would cost almost as much to deliver."