Current Petitions

Agenda item 5 is consideration of current petitions. The first current petition is PE1395, by Jan Culík, on targeted funding for lesser-taught languages and cultures at universities. Members have a note from the clerk and the submissions. Hugh McMahon, who has been a strong supporter of the petition, is in the audience.The petition has been interesting because it is about how we assess demand for courses that are no longer running. As members know, we have received a number of comments. We have been in touch with the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council and universities generally. A further paper has been commissioned by the Higher Education Academy and authored by John Dunn, who is a retired Scottish academic.There might still be some merit in asking Michael Russell or one of his colleagues to come and give the committee a final contribution of evidence. I can see Jackson Carlaw’s face and I know that members might feel that we have spent too long on this petition, but the petition is valuable and its point has been well made. To take the example of the number of Poles who are working in Scotland—and I do not have evidence for the figure—more people speak Polish than Gaelic in Scotland. That is an important development and we should get the minister along to give us some final comments before we conclude the petition. As always, I throw the question open to committee members.

I reiterate the convener’s concerns about the Polish community. I do not have the exact figure. I would prefer to get the education minister to answer the petition at the committee. I am aware that we have collated a lot of evidence and that the petition has been going on for a long time, but it is an important issue and I do not want it to get lost, so I would like the education minister to speak to it.

Either course of action is acceptable to me so, by a majority, the committee has decided that the petition is important and we should refer it on to the Education and Culture Committee. I thank Hugh McMahon for all the effort that he and his colleagues have put into the petition. I know that the petition will not be lost, because it is going to the appropriate committee, which will consider it further.