Major shake-up of Welsh language education reaches final stage

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

An overhaul of Welsh language education cleared the penultimate hurdle in the Senedd, with new school categories and legal requirements on the horizon.

Senedd members debated the Welsh language and education bill, which aims to ensure all pupils become confident Welsh speakers by the end of compulsory school.

If passed, the bill will create three school categories: primarily Welsh; dual language; and primarily English, partly Welsh – with targets for each.

A minimum of 10% of Welsh education would be required in primarily English schools, with 50% and 80% for the dual language and primarily Welsh categories respectively.

The bill would also put the target of reaching at least a million Welsh speakers by 2050 on a legal footing and establish the National Welsh Language Learning Institute.

‘Failures’

Senedd members considered dozens of detailed amendments to the bill during a four-hour stage-three debate on May 6.

Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell was one of the initial architects of the reforms as part of his party’s now-collapsed cooperation agreement with the Welsh Government.

He said: “A quarter of a century after the opening of this Senedd, it is disappointing that the majority of children and young people in Wales continue to be deprived of the opportunity to learn Welsh in our education system and to use the language in their everyday life.

“Due to these failures over the past decades, it’s very important that we legislate in this area to ensure the necessary progress is made… to reach a million Welsh speakers by 2050.”

Mr Campbell proposed raising the minimum requirement in primarily English schools to 20% but Senedd members roundly rejected this amendment.

‘Impractical’

Mark Drakeford, who is responsible for Welsh language policy, argued increasing the minimum to 20% would pose a significant risk the requirement could not feasibly be met.

He said: “I firmly believe it’s important in the short term for us to ensure the 10% minimum is provided effectively, rather than doubling that amount without sufficient capacity to do so.”

Conservative Tom Giffard agreed that an unrealistic target would make the bill impractical, with schools “already hugely concerned about reaching a 10% minimum”.

Mr Campbell raised concerns about exemptions from the 10% minimum for primarily English schools which would be able to apply for two three-year extensions.

The shadow education secretary warned a decade could elapse due to the time before the bill comes into force and schools seeking exemptions “which is entirely unacceptable”.

‘Exceptional’

Mr Campbell’s amendment to remove further extensions was rejected, with Prof Drakeford saying exemptions should be used infrequently and in exceptional cases.

“Nobody will be able to get an exemption just by asking for one,” said the former first minister, pointing to the role of councils in approving applications.

Senedd members voted against an amendment which would have required ministers to issue guidance on how Welsh learning goals apply to pupils with additional learning needs.

Other Conservative amendments, which were aimed at supporting non-Welsh speaking parents to engage with their children’s education, were agreed with cross-party support.

Mr Giffard said: “After four years of disagreement with Mark Drakeford, it’s a pleasure to see that we can agree on this, so thank you very much,” before normal service resumed.

‘Detrimental’

The former teaching assistant backed Plaid Cymru amendments – on setting targets for the recruitment, retention and training of a bilingual workforce – which were narrowly rejected.

“Without the workforce, no single line of this bill would work,” he warned.

Mr Campbell, a former lecturer, also proposed creating a presumption in favour of Welsh-medium education for any new schools but this amendment also fell.

Prof Drakeford warned of detrimental unintended consequences, such as a lack of community buy-in from forcing such an assumption on councils.

The Senedd rejected Plaid Cymru calls for at least half of pupils to attend primarily Welsh schools by 2050 but the Welsh Government committed to a consultation on such a target.

The bill now moves to stage four: a key vote on the final version agreed at stage three. With Labour and Plaid holding two-thirds of seats, the Senedd is likely to pass the bill on May 13.

Cymdeithas

Cymdeithas yr Iaith has said that there is a risk that the Bill will do little more than maintain the status quo.

Toni Schiavione, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Education Group, said: “The Government and the Senedd have missed a once-in-a-generation opportunity today, which may mean that the majority of children in Wales will continue to be deprived of Welsh-medium education for decades to come.

“It is acknowledged that Welsh-medium education is the only way to ensure that confident Welsh speakers are created through the education system. A recent opinion poll showed that 67% of people believe that schools should aim to educate all pupils to become confident Welsh speakers, so it’s clear what the people of Wales want.”

He added: “We are glad the government is going to hold a consultation on adding a target for Welsh-medium education into the Bill that will bind future governments, and we will be campaigning to ensure that this happens before the 2026 elections.

“But the truth is that not having such a target has been a clear weakness in the Bill since it was published in July. For the benefit of future generations, a target should have been included on the face of the bill today, and it’s our own politicians in the Senedd that have prevented that from becoming a reality.”

During the discussion, three members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith were present in the Senedd wearing t-shirts calling for a target to be included in the Bill and were visible to Members of the Senedd. They were removed from the public gallery.