The One Wales Government’s credibility on Welsh Language policy was under attack again today with Welsh-medium teaching union Ucac and the Welsh-medium schools’ association Cydag raising concerns about their new Transformation agenda, which aims to overhaul post-16 education in Wales.
Both organisations believe the agenda, requiring local authorities to reorganise post-16 education services, will have a detrimental impact on Welsh-medium provision:
Across Wales, schools, colleges and higher education institutions are compiling plans to merge and collaborate as a result of Transformation.
For example, in Rhondda Cynon Taf plans have been unveiled to establish a bilingual tertiary system, with sixth form facilities offering courses in both English and Welsh.
But Ucac’s general secretary Elaine Edwards believes such a move would be detrimental to Welsh-medium learners because students would not be fully immersed in Welsh at their place of study.
She said: “There might be a threat to Welsh-medium education post-16 if things are not handled properly. In some areas, 95% of pupils are from wholly English-medium backgrounds and therefore the whole experience of having Welsh as a social, extra-curriculum language is crucial to their education.
“The important thing is language continuity. Unless you have that all the way through a young person’s education, it’s going to have a damaging effect.”
Cydag chairman Eurig Davies said the partnership work demanded by the Transformation agenda could prove difficult for isolated Welsh-medium schools.
He said: “The Transformation agenda encourages partnerships between schools and colleges, and that’s fine. But, especially across anglicised parts of South Wales and in rural Wales, where schools are sparsely situated, working in partnership can prove difficult. That’s why there must be further consideration for Welsh-medium education in order to ensure that Welsh-medium learners have equal opportunities.”
When added to the mess that is the Welsh Language LCO and the failure to meet their promise to deliver a daily Welsh Language newspaper this is yet another embarrassment for the Government.
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