A cap on Glasgow school Gaelic places can’t be lifted because of a lack of teachers and space at secondary, education bosses have been told.
There were initially 178 children hoping to get one of 140 Gaelic P1 places in the city in August. But that number dropped to 157 in June as pupils found spaces elsewhere.
No additional spaces in Glasgow will be available for a number of years.
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Council official Donnie Macleod said it would be “foolhardy” to provide more spaces than have already been decided for the future.
He told the education, skills and early years city policy committee yesterday: “We believe as a result of the challenges that we currently face due to lack of space in the secondary campus and in the recruitment and retention of staff, particularly Gaelic speakers, we think it is unreasonable at this juncture to provide any additional provision beyond that, which we have already committed to in long-term planning.
"We think it would be foolhardy to do so.”
Recently bosses were unable to recruit an acting headteacher to cover maternity leave.
Explaining an example of another recent issue, Mr Macleod said: “Currently we still have a vacancy at the Berkeley Street primary campus for a gaelic speaking classroom teacher. We may have to look to bring in an English speaker for that.”
The issue was discussed as councillors were presented with an assessment for Gaelic Medium Primary Education, (GME), which was carried out following a request from parents.
The council aims to expand the number of Gaelic places after a new primary is built in the north west of the city in August 2027.
A council report said the new primary would support plans to move the current primary and early years centre from Berkeley Street, to “create the much-needed additional space to expand the number of places available across the GME estate.”
The report added: “This will allow us to increase the number of places at secondary stages and therefore P1 intake numbers across the GME estate from the current 140 each year to a total intake of 180.”
The meeting heard initiatives were underway to boost Gaelic teacher numbers after a number of councillors asked what could be done to improve the situation.
Latest statistics show there are 828 Gaelic primary pupils and 411 in secondary education.
Councillor Blair Anderson, Greens, said after the meeting, said: “It’s welcome to see that the capacity for Gaelic Medium Education (GME) will be growing across Glasgow in the coming years, but we need to be lifting the cap on school places as soon as possible. GME places are already oversubscribed – no family looking to educate their child in one of Scotland’s national languages should be denied that opportunity.
“Greens have been championing GME in the City Council for years and we will keep up that pressure to expand capacity and raise the 140 cap as soon as possible."
He added: "I will also be pushing the education committee to start working closely in the coming weeks and months with the GME Strategic Working Group, the Scottish Government and Bòrd na Gàidhlig to come up with new and effective ways to recruit and retain more qualified teaching staff here in Glasgow.”
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