One of the recommendations of the Ministerial Working Group on the Scots Language 2010 report was that 'the Scottish Government should develop a national Scots Language policy'.

The Scottish Government thereafter formally committed to the development of such a policy in consultation with interested parties. In September 2015 the Policy was officially launched by Alasdair Allan, Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages, at Education Scotland’s Scots in Schools conference held in Stirling

The minister recognised that Scots is spoken by 1.5 million Scots or 30% of the population and affirmed “This policy will play a important role in continuing to show that the Scottish Government takes seriously the promotion and preservation of the Scots language” as one of the three surviving indigenous languages of the country.

Jane Renton, the Assistant Director at Education Scotland, commented: “This is a significant moment for the Scots language. It is a living modern language which children in their tens of thousands bring to school every day.” She also added that by engaging with the rich literary heritage of Scots, by learning about and using language, children would also improve literacy skills.

The Scots language policy document sets out the Scottish Government's position on the Scots language, its aims and objectives for Scots and the practical steps the Government will take to implement these. The policy will be reviewed periodically and initial aims include developing detailed Scots language plans. The Scottish Government will also aim to provide advice for local authorities and organisations on how they can incorporate Scots in their daily activities, encourage local authorities to develop their own Scots language policies and provide advice on how those can be structured. The policy also sets out a range of actions that Education Scotland’s Scots Language Co-ordinators will take.

Links

The Scottish Government's Scots Language Policy
The SLC response to the Scottish Government's Scots and Gaelic plans
The Way Forward for the Scots Language by David Purves
Language, Politics and Power by Janet Paisley
A Language Strategy for Scots? by Andy Eagle
A Scrieve Fae Gerona