Mudiad Meithrin launches new manifesto ahead of Senedd election

Ella Groves

With just 100 days to go until the Senedd elections Mudiad Meithrin has launched its manifesto calling for greater government investment in the childcare sector in Wales.

Mudiad Meithrin is an organisation that campaigns for every child in Wales to have the opportunity to “play, learn and grow” through the medium of Welsh.

They aim to provide every child the opportunity to benefit from Welsh language early years services and experiences, stressing the importance of early care and education in Welsh when aiming for a society of confident Welsh speakers.

Around 22,000 children in Wales currently benefit from the provision of early years care and play through the medium of Welsh through Mudaid’s services on a weekly basis.

Unveiled today, the manifesto calls for the next Welsh Government to address three priority areas: Ensuring quality and sustainability; Expanding provision; and Increasing confidence and skills.

‘Ensuring quality and sustainability’

They have called on the next Welsh Government to “work towards a single national childcare and early education system in terms of funding, inspection and quality with funding – as in Scotland – following the child, to encourage fair and open access to quality provision.”

The first priority area also addresses issues such as support for ‘Croesi’r Bont’ to improve language quality in settings, recognition of the support needs of families and children with additional learning needs, and the importance of providing fair terms and conditions for staff in order to attract and retain practitioners.

Mudiad has also called for increased “investment in the childcare sector, committing to allocating additional funding to Wales through the Barnett formula from increased investment in the sector in England.”

‘Expand Provision’

Within the second priority area Mudiad has said to expand provision the next Welsh Government must ensure that the childcare offer is available to all 2-year-olds at a higher funding rate with the aim to expand the offer to children aged 9 months+.

Greater investment in the ‘Plethu’ scheme, which “supports the movement of settings along the language continuum in order to lay foundations to realise the aims of the Welsh Language and Education Act,” has also been called for.

‘Increase confidence and skills’

The final area of the manifesto calls for support from the Welsh government to build the confidence and skills of the early years workforce, voluntary committees, and parents and carers with regards to Welsh language early years care.

They have called for continued investment in the ‘Cam wrth Gam’ workforce development scheme as well as in the ‘Camau’ Learn Welsh Scheme.

Mudiad also suggests deepening activity in the field of language transfer by supporting parents and the extended family through various programmes and groups such as Cylchoedd Ti a Fi, ‘Cymraeg i Blant’, ‘Clwb Cwtsh’,  and Welsh Learning schemes such as ‘Cymraeg yn y Cartref.’

Dr Catrin Edwards, Chief Executive of Mudiad Meithrin, said: “Mudiad Meithrin is passionate about giving every child in Wales the opportunity to play, learn, and grow through the medium of Welsh.

“With increased investment from the Welsh Government in Mudiad Meithrin, we can develop into a powerhouse for the early years here in Wales, knowing that the early stage in a child’s life is key to ensuring growth for the Welsh language and lifelong prosperity.”

You can find the full Manifesto on Mudiad Meithrin’s website.