Senior Council Official Calls on Government to Stop Treating Welsh as a 'second language'

During a meeting held by Cymdeithas yr Iaith in Carmarthen over the weekend, a senior County Council officer called on the Government to get rid of the subject "Welsh as a Second Language" and instead implement in full the recommendations of the Prof Sioned Davuies Committee that all pupils should be taught Welsh as their own language on a single continuum of increasing levels. The call was made at a meeting attended by 60 delegates of county-wide bodies to question leading councillors and officers about the strategy  to develop Welsh-langugae education.

In response Cymdeithas Education spokesperson Ffred Ffransis said

"As we are expecting within a fortnight a Government announcement on the future of the curriculum, we are especially pleased that the Head of Carmarthenshire's Education Service Gareth Morgans took the opportunity to call on the Government to get rid of the whole concept of Welsh as a "second language" and rather to implement the recommendations of the Sioned Davies Committee to teach Welsh to every pupil as their own language along a continuum of levels of proficiency. The Government has approved Carmarthenshire's Stregic Welsh Education Strategic Plan which has as its basic strategy moving every school along a continuum towards delivering Welsh languge education. However the Government's own arrangements make this a laborious process in that there has to be a full consultation every step of the way if a single person objects to Welsh education.
"Following today's discussions we call on the Government to devolve to counties such as Carmarthenshire the right - as part of the strategic plan - to draw up their own languge categories for schools and to move forward on the continuum if a majority of two thirds of parents and governors agree following informal consultation. 40% of Carmarthenshire pupils are still deprived of the skill to be able to work in Welsh, and the Government must give the County Council the tools to put this injustice right."