Question S1W-12096: Irene McGugan, North East Scotland, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 19/12/2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will follow the practice of the Norwegian Government and support authors who write in indigenous languages by buying the first 1,000 copies of books written in Scots and placing them in libraries throughout the country.

Answered by Allan Wilson (12/01/2001): No. The acquisition of books for libraries is primarily the responsibility of the library authorities.

Question S1W-11754: Irene McGugan, North East Scotland, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 05/12/2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11353 by Allan Wilson on 1 December 2000, whether it will detail the specific role school co-ordinators will play in the promotion of the Scots language.

Answered by Allan Wilson (05/03/2001): In inviting education authorities to participate in the pilot programme we shall set out a general framework of objectives for school co-ordinators. We do not propose to identify particular areas of cultural activity in which co-ordinators should be involved. Within the general framework, that will be for schools and education authorities to determine.

Question S1W-11353: Irene McGugan, North East Scotland, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 17/11/2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what role school cultural co-ordinators will play in the promotion of the Scots language.

Answered by Allan Wilson (01/12/2000): Cultural champions will identify ways of enabling all teachers to maximise the potential contribution of culture to young people's education, developing their self-esteem and core life skills and looking for opportunities to widen the range of experiences available to them.

Question S1W-11354: Irene McGugan, North East Scotland, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 17/11/2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how teachers are prepared, though initial training and continuing professional development, to promote and develop pupils' Scots language skills.

Answered by Jack McConnell (10/01/2001): Guidelines for initial teacher education in Scotland require institutions to prepare teachers to be responsive to the needs of all pupils in respect of linguistic background.

Courses prepare teachers to deliver the curriculum as set out in guidance such as the 5-14 guidelines.

Question S1W-04992: Irene McGugan, North East Scotland, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 03/03/2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to include a question on the Scots language in the next Household Survey.

Answered by Jack McConnell (27/03/2000): There are no current plans to include a question on the Scots language in the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). The SHS questionnaire is revised slightly each year and a trawl for bids will take place in summer 2000 for questions/topics for possible inclusion in the SHS 2001 questionnaire.

Question S1W-04828: Irene McGugan, North East Scotland, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 29/02/2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote and protect the Scots language and what funds it intends to devote for this purpose.

Answered by Sam Galbraith (14/03/2000): The Executive directly supports the Scottish National Dictionary, the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, the Scots Language Resource Centre and the Scottish Poetry Library (which promotes poetry in Scots as well as other languages). These grants amount to £135,000 in the current year. Curricular guidelines encourage the teaching of Scots literature in schools and contain numerous opportunities for including Scots in the curriculum. The forthcoming national cultural strategy will provide an occasion to review the position of Scots and the means of support for it. Scots will also attract the provisions of Part II of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages which the UK Government signed on 2 March.