I am petitioning the Scottish Parliament on this issue to ensure that the Gaelic language, and therefore linguistic diversity, is recognised as essential in an open, inclusive Scotland and encouraged at all levels by local authorities, education bodies and the Scottish Government.
The intention and spirit of equalities legislation and inclusivity in public life must make provision for the use of languages other than English such as Gaelic, and events intended to support minority language groups, held through the medium of these languages, should not be characterised as exclusionary.
I am aware of cases of discrimination against minority languages, and specifically Gaelic, which have had a negative effect on children and their school education.
I refer to Part 6, ‘Monitoring of implementation’ of the Achd na Gàidhlig 2005 (Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005), and Part 15 of the Act, ‘Duty to promote and support Gaelic medium education and learning’ of the Achd an Fhoghlaim 2016 (Education (Scotland) Act 2016) to support my petition.
Comann nam Pàrant, Alasdair Allan MSP and Kate Forbes MSP have corresponded with Highland Council on this issue.