Education - Foghlam

Records of educational activities came largely with the arrival of the early Christian missionaries and their skills with written word (the illuminated Book of Kells - is thought to have been partially written at Iona, and their was regular traffic between Iona and the Outer Hebrides). It is known that there were religious settlements and colleges at Carinish and Howmore in the Uists, which were visited by scholars from Britain, Ireland and mainland Europe. These important centres of learning were abandoned and fell into disuse at the time of the Reformation, but the lessons shown by the value of a good education were not wasted on the population of the islands. It is known, for instance, that while several of the later monoglot English speaking travellers were passing cynical remarks on the native population, their hosts were often fluently conversant in Gaelic, English, Latin, French and frequently several European languages.

For several generations, the economic hardships and political persecution with which inhabitant of the Outer Hebrides were faced, encouraged many to choose the channel of higher education to base their challenge for a better quality of life. This was compounded by the fact that there was no higher education provided within the islands, so students had to move to mainland cities to complete their education. Once they had achieved their qualifications there were usually few, if any, openings within the Outer Hebrides for their chosen profession. Thankfully, this trend has been reversed in recent years, a major step being the creation of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council), which has provided academic and professional employment opportunities to allow local people to return to live and work in their own communities. The islands now have a college in Stornoway and recent advances in formal education sector have resulted in the growth of Gaelic-medium teaching and educational resource materials.