A PLAN to establish Scotland’s first English department within a school dedicated to providing education through the medium of Gaelic will be discussed in the Highlands today. A dedicated Gaelic school already exists in Glasgow and one is being built in Inverness. But the proposal for Sleat in Skye would be the first Gaelic school with an English medium unit - the exact reversal of the present position. The idea has split the small community in the south of the island, with some suggesting it will take years to heal the wounds. The dispute will come to a head tomorrow when Highland Council is due to make a decision on the school. Gaelic activists point out that the usual description of “dedicated” or “all-Gaelic” school is a misnomer as Gaelic medium schools produce bilingual pupils. However, the idea was strongly opposed by some in the community.

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