Gaelic primary school unable to find fluent headmaster The local authority, Highland Council, has tried to fill the vacant headteacher post without success. It has been suggested that the language criterion is reduced to enable non-Gaelic speakers to be considered and appointed. Many parents feel that this is unacceptable. We need a Gaelic speaking head teacher. This isn't criticism at the current Acting Head, it's about the rights of the children, our children's children and us as parents to have a Gaelic environment and to gain back the respect of the language. Jim Crawford, an Inverness councillor, said: "To have a headteacher from Sweden in a Gaelic speaking school in the Highland Capital underlines the futility of the Gaelic programme. It's outrageous, especially at a time when ordinary schools are considering cutting back to a four day week to save money. But it seems we'll spend money on Gaelic willy nilly. Facebook user Calum Maclean wrote: "Unfortunately, as a result of having a non-Gaelic speaking acting head for the last two years, the Gaelic language environment within the school has deteriorated significantly. Each term there appears to be more and more activities within the school that are delivered through English rather than Gaelic, which is affecting the children's understanding and appreciation of the language. Lisa Howarth said: "I agree that we do need a Gaelic speaking head teacher, the kids used to speak Gaelic in the house as their secret language but don't attempt to speak in Gaelic any more! My youngest has never known a Gaelic speaking HT. Fiona Mackenzie said: "If a Gaelic speaking HT is not found at this point then it's wrong on so many levels for the HC to then directly go to the option of employing someone with no Gaelic." Ms Jansson was appointed acting headmaster of the school in August 2010. Previously she was deputy head at Millbank Primary in Nairn. Highland Council said they were forced to take the decision to consider employing a non-Gaelic speaking teacher because they were unable to attract suitable candidates with the required qualifications and experience for the role. A spokeswoman for Highland Council said: "In terms of the criteria used to select candidates for headteacher posts, insufficient applications have been received to enable us to move to final interview. There is a national issue about insufficient Gaelic speaking staff. For class teachers we ensure that any permanent posts are Gaelic speaking. Up until the last advert, we have always insisted that a fluent speaking headteacher is required. We will work with any appointee to get their Gaelic language skills up to an acceptable standard where this is required. It has been, and always will be our first, best option that the head teacher at BSGI is a fluent Gaelic speaker. However, the council have now confirmed in a letter that was sent to parents last week that they are proceeding to interview with one candidate following two applications for the post after it was re-advertised in June. Although one candidate has since chosen to withdraw before the interview stage, the remaining candidate will be interviewed in mid-November. Highland Council refused to confirm whether the candidate is a non-Gaelic speaker. Andrew Stewart, Highland secretary of the EIS teachers union, said in an ideal world you would expect 100 per cent of staff at a Gaelic medium school to all be fluent Gaelic speakers. He added: "This is not unique to the Gaelic school. It's very, very difficult to fill head teacher posts in Highland primary schools that aren't Gaelic schools but I would think that as this is a Gaelic school that probably makes it quite a difficult task. Councillor Alasdair Christie, chair of the council's adult and children's services said: "This post does not involve direct teaching. It is an overseeing and managerial role rather than teaching children every day in class. He added that the council had also had discussions with Gaelic agency Bord na Gaidhlig. He said: "If the head teacher was not a fluent Gaelic speaker we will take additional steps to ensure the ethos of the school is maintained."