Iomairtean development workers praised for work with young Gaelic speakers in lockdown

With funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, and support from local authorities including Comhairle nanEilean Siar, there are now 15 ‘Iomairtean’ development officers working in different communities.

This includes officers based in North West Lewis, Broad Bay (Back and Point districts), the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway, Harris, Uist and Eriskay, and Barra.

The majority of these officers deliver their work through a close partnership with schools – but with the schools closed new skills and approaches needed to be developed to support kids with their continued use of Gaelic.

The work done over the months during lockdown – undertaken as part of the #cleachdiaigantaigh campaign – has now been praised by both teachers and parents.

Marina Murray, CnaG development director, said: “We are very pleased that people in the communities in which we work, have responded so well, and so positively to the opportunities and activities we have been providing over the past few months, given the challenges we had to overcome.

“In the first place none of our officers have ever been recruited for their knowledge and abilities with social media or technology – instead we strongly prioritise their inter-personal abilities, and they positive relationships they can build with young people.

“For some of our officers, it meant familiarising themselves with online platforms to continue those relationships – and they undertook this with a lot of commitment.

“Secondly, we had to avoid delivering these sessions during the school day, to avoid competing with school lessons.

“This resulted in our officers working later in the afternoon and evening, trying to encourage young people to come back online to take part in activities.

“Despite these challenges, the team proved how creative they could be, coming up with new ideas for activities – too many to list them all.

“However, they included quizzes and writing competitions, videos, games and many other activities whose whole focus was on engaging and enthusing young Gaelic speakers.”

Daibhidh Boag, director of language development at Bòrd na Gàidhlig, added: “I would like to sincerely thank the officers who were involved in the #cleachdiaigantaigh initiative, and thank them for swiftly providing such a great online service.

“We witnessed many organisations work together, and in partnership with schools to help encourage the use of Gaelic in the home.”