A THIRD Gaelic school is to open in Glasgow as demand for places continues to grow.
Increasing demand for Gaelic-medium education (GME) has led to the city council's plan for a new school at Cartvale in Govan.
Announcing the £1.9 million investment from the Gaelic Capital Fund in a Holyrood debate, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said it would help speed up the growth of Gaelic education across Scotland.
He said the government would work towards opening other Gaelic schools in Edinburgh and Inverness and ensure support was put in place for parental wishes for similar establishments in Oban and Dingwall.
Glasgow City Council dropped a proposal for a third Gaelic school at the former Gowanbank Primary in Nitshill last year after 75 per cent of consultation responses were against the idea.
At that time council education officers ruled out using the former Cartvale Secondary School building as the pupils with social and emotional difficulties it catered for were in the process of moving to new schools.
The new Gaelic school is expected to open to pupils in 2019 following renovations.
Both of the city's existing Gaelic schools at Glendale Primary in Pollokshields and the Glasgow Gaelic School in Berkeley Street are full, with nearly 900 pupils in total.
Ladywell School in Whiteinch is being used as a temporary annexe for overspill pupils from August.
Speaking following a debate on the National Gaelic Language Plan 2018-23, Swinney said: "We have an opportunity to build on the success of recent years and to ensure a faster rate of progress in the expansion of Gaelic education across Scotland.
"Glasgow City Council has a remarkable record with Gaelic education and the establishment of a third standalone school will provide capacity to meet growing demand from parents.
"Following the opening of Portree Gaelic School last week – the sixth in Scotland – we will continue to support and encourage the growth of Gaelic education."
Chris Cunningham, city convener for education, skills and early years, said: "The development of the former Cartvale School is yet another example of our continued commitment to GME and we welcome the additional grant which will go towards the upgrades and renovations for the opening of the new school building in August 2019."
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