Daily Mail claims children of parents who want English-only education ‘second-class citizens’ in Wales
The Daily Mail newspaper has claimed that children whose parents want them to have an English-only education are treated “like second-class citizens” in Wales – because the parents have to drive them to a nearby English-only school.
The newspaper said that pupils “face having to be shuttled by their mothers and fathers by car out of their home villages” because a school in Powys was shutting down its English-only provision and providing bilingual education.
Powys Council said that parents seeking that their children be taught in English-only would not be provided with public transport for their children when there was a Welsh-medium school closer to where they lived.
But the Daily Mail quoted an anonymous parent who said that it was “biased” and that the council was “using children to force them to learn Welsh”.
‘Fully bilingual’
The Daily Mail insisted that the “problem” had been caused by the Welsh Government’s aim of reaching a million Welsh speakers by 2050, they said, which had “left many children unable to attend their nearest school” unless they were willing to be taught in Welsh.
“From September parents who live there and want their newly-starting children to learn in English will have to take them to Ysgol Gynradd Llanidloes Primary School five miles away at their own cost,” the Daily Mail said.
The newspaper pointed to Ysgol Dyffryn Trannon which had just “axed its English-medium element”.
The then Conservative and independent council debated changing Trefeglwys to a Welsh-medium school in September of last year and concluded that parents living in Trefeglwys had the choice of three nearby schools if they want their children to be taught in English only.
Powys Council however said that a Welsh-medium education was in practice a bilingual one, with children becoming fluent in both languages.
“The current dual-stream model means that whilst pupils attending the Welsh-medium stream become fully bilingual, fluent in both Welsh and English, whilst pupils attending the English-medium stream do not,” they said.
“The process to change the school’s language category was started due to the small number of pupils choosing the English-medium stream at the school, which has reduced significantly over the last few years.”
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Oh dear, there there. Tell me about second class citizenship in MY OWN COUNTRY were I was forced to have an English only education due to the human rights violation which was the banning from speaking and attempted eradication of our language. Apology still pending so maybe they should get on with that rather perpetuate the evils of the Empire. Try living in France and tell them that they cannot use or educate in their own language because it must all be in English. Good luck!
If they were second class citizens, they’d well and truly deserve it. I’d say strip off more rights because they’re too bigoted and have no reason to live in my country. Throw them over the border.
Why should Slovenes be “forced” to learn Slovene, Latvians forced to learn Latvian, South Africans and Zulu? The list goes on. A majority clearly believe that this country needs to maintain its native language just like any other country. You keep that xenophobic imperialist gob of yours shut before someone shuts it for you, little swine attacking my native language. You’ll be gone soon i hope.
languages in countries like latvia and zulu are different to welsh, only 900,000 people speak welsh, but over 1 million people speak latvian and over 9 million speak zulu and 99% of people in wales speak english. Where i live everyone speaks english, and ive never heared anyone speak welsh(im in wales), so learning welsh is as useful as learning swedish if you dont live in sweden.
ofc if you wanna learn Welsh that’s ok, but nobody should be forced to learn welsh.
What a pig ignorant moron. The same could be said of Swedish, and the Baltic languages. In fact, your argument is basically the same as Russia’s towards their former Soviet neighbours.
The ability to speak Welsh will not hold them back if they seek to remain and work in Wales, will it?!
No speaker here, 4 fluent speaking kids. Shut the f up. Bigots like you are not welcome
It’s American now, bud, and Americans don’t like Limeys any more than we do!
The Daily Mail newspaper has claimed that children whose parents want them to be monoglots are inconvenienced by having to drive them to a nearby English-only school.
Those who object to existence of their homeland language have just a short distance between them and the border – since before the time of taliesin tiny Wales has made greater sacrifices to conserve its identity and culture
How utterly absurd. I was born in the West where everyone spoke Welsh as a first language. We moved to South Wales when I was very young and there was no capacity at that time (now happily changed) for a Welsh medium education. It was only ever taught as a second language. As a result I grew up with barely any understanding of my own language (again happily changing). What the Daily Heil is whining about is English ONLY, where far right English incomers refuse to even learn Cymraeg as a SECOND language. There is plenty of opportunity to attend… Read more »
By insisting on an English language only education those parents are choosing to make their children second class citizens when they are old enough to enter the jobs market in Wales.
How many actually Have children of school age?
The border – Clawdd Offa is very easy to cross, hence so many English arriving in Wales. Very attractive place to live and work in. Safer place to raise a family. Lots of advantages. If accepting the country’s language culture and heritage is too much of a burden it’s just as easy to cross that border in the other direction. Bon voyage, colonialist cry babies.
They can take the anglo immigrants back with them
I think that this report is a sad reflection on the readership, and the paper, that they feel at ease, and free to promote linguistic intolerance and racism, and not worry about the consequences, or even the fact they may be instigating either with this report. We need to be out of this kind of bigoted society, who treat us, as though we still lived in a bygone age.
The people of Wales should not buy that Welsh hating paper that is the only thing that we in Wales can do that’s going to affect that crap paper don’t buy it
The Daily Heil is a far-right lie factory – don’t buy it!
These accusations are getting as bad as the myth often used by ones who claim on entering a pub heard English spoken only to find pub goers switch to Welsh when they sat down paranoia. Why isn’t she saying the same of religious schools in Powys. It’s only Welsh medium she attacks which makes me think there’s a hidden agenda. And because Welsh medium schools often provide a better standard of education are criticised by ones who refuse to educate their children in Welsh. Who then cynically go to the English right-wing press who run a story lambasting not only… Read more »
It’s best to ignore the English nationalist DM. It’ll say anthing to smear the Senedd because it now fears the ultimate future for Cymru – Independence.
If I chose not to interact through the national language of any other country I lived in, it would rightly be regarded as a personal choice and result in self inflicted isolation. So, to overcome the problem, one embraces the local lingo!
For anyone to suggest that non Welsh-speakers are “second class citizens” in Wales with a straight face really strikes a very painful nerve with me. Look at any company in Wales bigger than a small one – whole echelons of middle to upper management, across various areas of industry in Wales, are not Welsh, let alone Welsh-speaking. Even in the Arts, those who run theatre companies, artistic directors, scores of authors, performance artists, the ones who set the pace and dictate the culture, they aren’t Welsh, have no interest in Wales save for opening their zoom meetings with a “borau… Read more »
For English-only education, try England!
Daily Mail is an anti-Welsh, racist paper without a shred of decency.
yeah, but it’s still the biggest selling paper in Wales.
Try living in Quebec Canada and not wanting your child to learn French
If I live din Queb ec Canada I would definitley want my child to learn French
Agree with you 100%. Every child in Wales should be taught in Welsh and English. No choice. Make it mandatory. It’s the national language so if you don’t like it people know what they can do.
someone mentioned cultural wars. It’s not a cultural war it’s the promotion and preservation of a national language
Here we go again, another culture war
Recently moved to North Wales, my Spanish native speaker 10 years old daughter is attending a Welsh medium school. She’s learning both languages at the same time, English and Welsh. With luck, she’ll be soon trilingual. I just have to say: thank you Wales for such an opportunity.
That would certainly be impressive. Your daughter may find similarities between Welsh and Spanish since they have the same Latin root for example
Ventana : Fennstr
Iglesia : Eglwys
Abedul : Bedw
Certainly, they both have similarities based on Latin. But, the best thing is that both are phonetical languages. Welsh is, from my personal point of view, a sort of hidden treasure, keep it safe. I wish I could learn Welsh like my daughter does.
You can, Sandra! Lots of fantastic classes and clubs for learners! My personal favourite similarity between Romance languages and Cymraeg – Peryglus/Perigoloso
Da iawn
Why anyone would want their children to learn only one language is very sad, later they will be the same people complaining that their children can’t get jobs because they can’t speak Welsh. Just imagine what the Daily Mail would have to say if there were parents in England didn’t want their children to learn English
We’re does all the Welsh
What do you mean?
How very sad that a right-wing BritNat newspaper should stoop to presenting as victims a small minority living in Wales who would deny their own children the opportunity to learn the language of their adopted country.
Gosh !
Only 3 nearby English medium schools to
choose from….
How dreadful
Here we go again I remember the time going to my local and called all manner of names because I spoke Welsh,and there again I’ve met wonderful people who learned the language.
rather depressing that an obvious clickbait non story like this gets around 4 x the reaction as the report on the massive left wing U turn Sunak has done today, this piece is just a distraction, don’t fall for it.
Good point, which we should bear in mind, especially me!
Our language and heritage is a threat to those whose wish it is to erase it.
They have access to English-medium schools in England, so what’s the problem?
I hope the councils stand firm here.
Given that the English-medium stream at the school appears to have removed because of a lack of demand, the council’s position is surely not unreasonable. More rabble-rousing from the Mail.
I am mentally ill. Please someone shut me up for good before i spread more colonialist and supremacist lies!
Enjoy a holiday in America, your wish could come true.
Oh yes….hmm perhaps let’s revisit how we Welsh were forced to give up our rights, language, and if you go back far enough our freedom. Now how about these foolish racists concentrate on why they are no different than Putin. If they had their way we Welsh would be exterminated, just like the poor native American Indians.
The hate mail are the same types who robbed so many, like me, of our language. I don’t care for English fascist supporting press. They tell lies of the language, to put people off. This is why we need Nation Cymru, to cut the lies off.
If you live in Wales and are fortunate to have children, learn Welsh, all of you and have fun doing so, mistakes will be made (that’s how we all learn) but it gets easier. There you go, simple eh?!
After all, if you lived in France, surely you would make the effort to learn, ah, I see my error now…
Daily Mail; third class media rag.