Education

Foreword

The proposed Welsh Language Education Act offers the Government a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that every child in Wales receives a Welsh-medium education.

The fact that eighty percent of our children are still deprived of a Welsh-medium education is a national disgrace, with the inequality at its worst among disadvantaged communities, migrants and people of colour. Young people who don’t become fluent in Welsh will likely be excluded from cultural, social and economic opportunities for the rest of their lives. And in areas where the language is spoken by the majority of the population, many young people lose their language skills as they go through the education system due to the failures of the ‘bilingual’ system and the approach to assessment.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith's Welsh Language Education Act shows that the Government can set out in statute a clear goal that the Welsh language will be the medium of education in Wales by 2050, placing every school on a path towards Welsh Language Education for All by that date. It is also within the Minister's power to ensure that all new schools will be Welsh-medium. Our Act would also establish one continuum of learning and one qualification for all: eliminating the damaging practice of offering the majority of young people ‘Second Language Welsh’ while a minority are given a holistic linguistic experience.

We are very grateful to Keith Bush, Fellow in Welsh Law at the Wales Governance Centre, for his key contribution to the specialist work of drafting the proposed legislation set out in the pages that follow. His work has enabled Cymdeithas yr Iaith to translate its policies and vision into the language of the law, showing the Government the way forward in a very practical way. We also thank those who have contributed valuable comments since we published our draft Act at the National Eisteddfod in August, enabling us to make important changes before publishing this final version.

When the Government passes its own Welsh Language Education Act, there are two possible outcomes: either the Minister will choose to throw open the doors to all the children of Wales, or he will choose to deepen the linguistic inequality by continuing to exclude children for generations to come. The Welsh language belongs to everyone. The proposals in this Act would finally make that principle a reality.

Download Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Welsh Language Education Act

Introduction
The Welsh language belongs to everyone in Wales but the education system currently deprives 80% of young people of the ability to speak and use Welsh confidently by the end of their time in
statutory education.

Welsh-medium education is the only way to ensure that pupils can leave school confident in their ability to use the Welsh language. Cymdeithas yr Iaith published a Welsh-medium Education of All
Act last year, setting a statutory target that every child receives Welsh-medium education by 2050. For this to happen there will be a need to act nationally and locally. The Government will need to
adopt this target and set targets for Local Authorities, and Local Authorities will need to create a plan to reach these targets and put every school on a path to teaching through the medium of
Welsh.

The first part of this statistical work shows the growth that will be required in each county in order to reach the target that every pupil receives Welsh-medium education by 2050.
The Welsh Government has consulted on proposals for a Welsh Language Education Bill that sets a target that 50% of the pupils in Wales receive Welsh-medium education by 2050. The statistics in
the second part of this work shows the growth that will be required in each county to reach the target that half of pupils in Wales receive Welsh-medium education by 2050. Although this is a step
forward it would be insufficient as it would continue to deprive half of the pupils of Wales of the ability to use the Welsh language confidently.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith carried out similar statistical work in 2017. It shows the growth that would be needed to reach the Government’s target of reaching a million speakers by 2050 and shows that
39.7% of seven year old pupils would need to be receiving Welsh-medium education by 2025. In 2022/23, with two years to go, only 23.5% of primary school children were receiving Welsh-medium
education.
This work expands on that statistical work, and draws attention to the significant lack of continuity as pupils move from the primary to secondary sector, this is seen at it’s most obvious in some of
the counties in the west of Wales.

What is clear therefore is that the Welsh Government needs to create an action plan, fund the growth and set targets for Local Authorities, whatever the target may be.

Our Welsh Language Education Act in May 2023, following a consultation. See above

Download Cymdeithas yr Iaith's Welsh Language Education Act 2022