What action it is taking to persuade Gaelic-speaking teachers to teach through the medium of Gaelic.

In order to address the need for Gaelic teachers the Scottish Executive is taking action in a number of areas, including encouraging local authorities to persuade Gaelic speaking teachers to teach through the medium of Gaelic. The Scottish Executive’s teacher recruitment campaign in 2005 will include an emphasis on recruiting teachers that are both able and willing to teach through the medium of Gaelic. The Scottish Executive is also funding a course at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig to assist Gaelic speaking teachers to transfer to Gaelic-medium teaching. This course will be available for on-line delivery in 2005. In addition, in the Scottish Executive’s teacher induction scheme, every effort is made to allocate newly qualified Gaelic speaking teachers to Gaelic-medium teaching posts.