That the Parliament welcomes publication of the final report, Welcoming Languages: Including a refugee language in Scottish education, which is from a pilot project that saw collaboration between the University of Glasgow School of Education and the Islamic University of Gaza, in Palestine, to design, develop and teach a beginner Arabic language course to teachers in four Glasgow primary schools; understands that Arabic is a language spoken by large numbers of children and families seeking asylum in Scotland and who go on to make their home here, and that by learning some simple language that is useful in a school setting, education staff can make Arabic-speaking children, and parents and carers, feel welcome and included in the school community, and calls on the Scottish Government to consider making more widely available what it sees as the social and educational success of Welcoming Languages for these "new Scots", their fellow classmates, and the school community as a whole.
Supported by:
Karen Adam, Clare Adamson, Alasdair Allan, Jeremy Balfour, Colin Beattie, Siobhian Brown, Stephanie Callaghan, Maggie Chapman, Foysol Choudhury, Natalie Don, Bob Doris, Jackie Dunbar, Pam Duncan-Glancy, Emma Harper, Bill Kidd, Rona Mackay, Ruth Maguire, Stuart McMillan, Jenni Minto, Audrey Nicoll, Emma Roddick, Mark Ruskell, Paul Sweeney, David Torrance, Evelyn Tweed, Mercedes Villalba