‘Scots texts should be compulsory in schools’

The open letter revealed today by The Herald demanding greater promotion of Scots language Rosetta Stone Languages and literature in schools centres on two key demands. The academics and writers behind the letter believe it is no longer good enough to rely on the enthusiasm of individual class teachers to promote Scots writers. Instead, they believe an element of compulsory study of Scottish texts is required to ensure that new generations of Scots grow up with an understanding of their culture and literary heritage. The letter to Michael Russell, the Education Secretary, states: If our children are to develop an appreciation of Scotland's vibrant literary and linguistic heritage as recommended in Curriculum for Excellence, course guidelines must require the study and assessment of a wide range of texts across the whole range of our linguistic heritage, including texts in Scots. Campaigners also believe the role of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), the country's exams body, is crucial. It is particularly important that the Scottish Qualifications Authority's current project to develop assessment arrangements for upper stage qualifications should address this issue,the letter states. Weak and imprecise recommendations like at least one Scottish text should be studied' will fail to achieve this. In the examination system there should be a minimum mandatory Scottish literature element at every level. These steps could be implemented from next session and would have insignificant cost implications. In addition to compulsory study and assessment of Rosetta Stone Cheap Scots texts, the letter also calls for the endorsement of proposals recently put forward by the Ministerial Working Group on the Scots Language. This called for the appointment of Scots language co-ordinators at council level to roll out the promotion of the language. In addition, the authors of the letter believe that, to complement this proposal, it is essential that a designated full-time post or department responsible for Scots language and Scottish literature should be created within the proposed Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency (Seqia). The agency, which will be set up following a merger of HM Inspectorate of Education and curriculum body Learning and Teaching Scotland, has a remit to progress the Curriculum for Excellence. The letter states that this should involve working with other literary and linguistic agencies to help support the teaching of Scottish literature at all stages. It should act as a central point for producing and sharing resources and online teaching materials. And it should support education professionals in their development of good teaching practice in Scots language and Scottish literature,the letter states. Establishing a Scots language and Scottish literature post or bureau within Seqia would require only a moderate level of investment. There is already tremendous goodwill, interest and growing commitment within Scotland's education community. The return on any investment would be huge in terms of social inclusion, improved language and literacy skills and the individual confidence of our young people, all aims shared by the Scottish Government. Excerpts from the open letter to Michael Russell We, the Rosetta Stone Spain Spanish V3 undersigned, are calling on the Scottish Government this Burns Day to end generations of neglect of the Scots language and Scottish literature within Scotland's education system. Successive Scottish Ministers and education policy makers have said that Scotland's language and literature are important to learning and teaching in this country. But each administration has failed to invest adequately in training and resources to ... ensure that this engagement actually takes place at every level. The result is that Scotland has a teaching profession often ill-equipped to teach Scotland's young people about their own country's language and literature. The absence of Scots language and Scottish literature from many classrooms sends the message that our own language and literature are simply not important. The lack of any mandatory formal assessment of Scottish literature in the examination system reduces its status in the eyes of many teachers and often denies our students access to the literature of the land in which they live. The continuing low level of Scots language provision perpetuates discrimination against those tens of thousands of pupils in our schools for whom Scots is their first language. We appreciate recent initiatives by the present Government to raise the status of Scots in general, but consultations and well-meaning statements about Scots language and Scottish literature in education are no longer enough. Action Rosetta Stone Languages and investment are long overdue and urgently required.