Try as it might, Western Isles Council couldn’t recruit a maths teacher for the tiny Castlebay Community School on Barra last year. Hamish Budge, who works for the council as an education support officer in Stornoway, ended up teaching the pupils National 5 and Higher maths remotely.

That experience was the catalyst for the authority to stop “dabbling with bits and pieces” of e-learning and create a full-scale e-Sgoil (e-School) dedicated to making the most of technology in education.

The £1 million-plus project is more than just a Western Isles initiative and could end up having implications for learning across Scotland, according to the men at the helm, e-Sgoil headteacher Angus Maclennan and programme manager Allan Smithyman.

That is why the e-Sgoil project has attracted £550,000 of Scottish government funding, they say, with the body responsible for promoting Gaelic, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, also contributing £150,000. The council has committed to matching their funding.

“This is not just about schools and it is not just about the Western Isles - this is a Scotland-wide initiative,” Mr Smithyman said. “There has been a lot of interest from other local authorities.”

In the past, online teaching delivery in the Western Isles has been limited, but teacher shortages, the welcome roll-out of superfast broadband and the plummeting price of technology meant that the time was right for such a project, said the headteacher and programme manager.

The ambition is that e-Sgoil will allow pupils to access a wider range of subjects - both in English and in Gaelic - through online learning. It is also hoped that new technology could be used to train more home-grown teachers and even widen access to instrumental music tuition.

However, those behind the project stress that it is not about replacing teachers but “adding value”. “We meet the commitment to maintaining teacher numbers every year and intend to do that in subsequent years. This is about ensuring that, where there are gaps and in the event of a crisis, we can respond. It’s up to us to ensure our youngsters’ needs are met,” said Mr Smithyman.

Growing Gaelic

One need that is currently going unmet is for secondary Gaelic medium education. The authority’s goal is that six secondary subjects should be available in Gaelic but the shortage of staff qualified to teach in the language means that target is not being met. E-Sgoil could be the solution, the council believes.

E-Sgoil is also seen as the vehicle for ensuring that - as far as possible - pupils in the senior phase have equal access to subjects, whether they attend the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway, with over 1,000 pupils, or Barra’s Castlebay secondary, with just 57.

E-Sgoil will employ a “blended learning approach”, meaning that pupils will have face-to-face contact with teachers as well as e-learning, said Mr Maclennan.

The plan is for what the e-Sgoil offers to grow organically; where there is a demand for a subject it will try to meet it using the authority’s existing teachers. However, it hopes to build partnerships with other remote and rural areas, including in the Highlands and Islands, and the pool of staff delivering lessons will grow.

The pair currently running the school admit that some teachers have had reservations about getting to grips with the technology, but full training is being provided.

Mr Smithyman said: “Some teachers are au fait with the technology and are already using these tools but others are a bit more anxious and using these tools for them is a bigger leap. So it’s fair to say some people are against it but generally people are positive about the concept of the e-Sgoil and what it can do for our youngsters here and elsewhere.”

Deputy first minister and education secretary John Swinney said: “This exciting and innovative development will help transform the way education is delivered in rural communities, by providing equal opportunities for pupils through a shared education resource across local authorities.”

@Emma_Seith