Campaigners and politicians cut an anniversary cake today (10am, Tuesday, 22nd September) to mark two years of delay since the publication of a report which recommended an overhaul of the way Welsh is taught in schools.

 

At the cake cutting, politicians from all four parties in the Assembly - Keith Davies, Suzy Davies, Simon Thomas and Aled Roberts - have released a joint statement which calls on the Government to implement Professor Sioned Davies's report which was published in September 2013. The cross-party statement says: "On the occasion of the second anniversary of the publication of Professor Sioned Davies report "Second Language Welsh", we ask the Welsh Government to give positive attention to the recommendations when making an announcement about the future of the Welsh curriculum. We believe that every pupil should develop the skill to able to work and communicate in Welsh and English."  

 

Professor Sioned Davies' report was commissioned by the Welsh Government to consider the state of teaching Welsh as a second language. Among the 'One Language for All' report's recommendations were establishing a continuum of Welsh learning in order to deliver more and more of the curriculum in Welsh  and also ensure a degree of Welsh-medium teaching for every child.  

 

First Minister Carwyn Jones will appear in front of the Assembly's communities committee Thursday to answer questions about Welsh-medium education and Professor Davies' report. Reacting to the cross-party statement, Ffred Ffransis, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg's education spokesperson said:  

 

"Two years since Professor Davies' report, our appeal to Carwyn Jones and Huw Lewis is to recognise that it's a complete failure to think about Welsh as a 'second language', as the report makes clear. The clue is in the title 'One Language for All'. The Welsh language is owned by every pupil, and the government needs to announce when it will abolish the second language concept and instead teach 'Welsh' for all raising pupils through various levels of fluency. There is no way to improve a model which is completely broken".  

 

"It's obvious there is a consensus in Wales that there is a need to take the opportunity to ensure that the new curriculum empower every pupil with the ability to work in Welsh, and we are very pleased that AMs from every party have joined us to state that. The education Minister Huw Lewis has a golden opportunity to ensure this happens by making a big announcement next month about the future curriculum in our schools. We also expect word from the First Minister Carwyn Jones in the committee meeting Thursday that the government now intends to act after two years of delay."  

 

"No-one who has read Professor Davies' report can come to the conclusion that anything less than a complete transformation of the system is needed, instead of keeping it. The basic problem with teaching Welsh as a second language is that there is next to no pupils in English-medium schools who can speak a word of the language at the end of the course. In other words, the system is failing, despite the best efforts of a number of talented teachers in the field."  

 

A large number of education specialists and other groups have called on the Government to ensure the Government implements the report's recommendation to move towards Welsh-medium education for every child. child. Among the supporters of the campaign are David Crystal, Professor in Linguistics at Bangor University and author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Gethin Lewis, former headteacher and national secretary of N.U.T. Cymru, and teachers' union UCAC.