Minister announces extra £30 million for Welsh medium education

A Minister has announced an additional £30 million to develop new Welsh-medium education.

According to Kirsty Williams, the Education Minister, the capital investment is part of the Welsh Government’s commitment to reach 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050.

It wants to support all learners to become Welsh speakers by the time they leave school.

The Welsh Government aims to increase capacity in Welsh-medium schools, support the early immersion of Welsh language skills by improving transition from childcare to primary.

It also wants to help learners in English-medium and bilingual schools improve their skills and confidence in Welsh.

The new curriculum for Wales will introduce a continuum of progression and expectations of Welsh Language acquisition for the first time. Bilingual schools will also teach a greater proportion of the curriculum through Welsh.

The funding is a second tranche of investment from the Welsh Medium Capital Grant, established in 2018.

The Welsh Government has already provided £46 million to local authorities through the scheme, supporting 46 projects across Wales so far and creating nearly 3,000 school and childcare places.

‘Key driver’ 

Kirsty Williams, the Education Minister, said: “Providing first class schools for children in Welsh-medium education is a key driver for Cymraeg 2050. Attending a Welsh-medium school ensures children become at least bilingual.

“We also need to increase the number of learners in English-medium and bilingual schools who are learning Welsh successfully.

“I want to ensure more bilingual schools introduce a greater proportion of the new curriculum in Welsh, to give learners a strong linguistic foundation.

“The funding complements our fantastic 21st century Schools and Colleges programme, which has completed 170 new schools or college projects in its first phase, with 43 new projects in the pipeline.

“We are driving forward the delivery of capital projects to increase the percentage of learners in Welsh-medium education, helping achieve our long-term goal of a million Welsh-speakers by 2050.”