‘Councils should be given

MOST children in Wales will need to attend Welsh medium primary schools by 2030 to meet the Welsh Government’s target of reaching one million Welsh speakers, a survey published today claims.

Data from Welsh language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith, to be released at the Urdd Eisteddfod today, shows that in two decades’ time 19 out of the 22 councils in Wales will need to ensure the majority of the youngest children are in Welsh medium education.

The research claims that by 2040 more than three-quarters of seven-year-olds will need to be in the Welsh-medium sector if the Government target of a million speakers by the middle of the century is to be met.

In Bridgend, site of this year’s Urdd Eisteddfod, the research suggests the percentage of seven-year-olds taught in Welsh will need to more than treble, from 8.6% to 28.6%, by 2030.

In Cardiff the percentage needs to rise from 15.1% to 43% by 2030 and in Swansea from 14.1% to 41.1%, the Cymdeithas data claims.

In Flintshire the percentage will need to rise from 5.7% to 20.4%, while the number in Carmarthenshire would have to jump from 55% to 84.1%.

In Conwy and Denbighshire the local authorities will need to boost provision from around a quarter of children attending Welsh-medium education now to almost 60% in just over a decade.

The report comes as the former Assembly Member Aled Roberts conducts an inquiry of Welsh in Education Strategic Plans, which outline how county councils plan to grow Welshmedium provision, for the Welsh Government.

Toni Schiavone, Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s education spokesman said: “Our local members have responded to and scrutinised local Welsh medium education plans: they are insufficient, to say the least.

“The Government must consider a system which sets targets for local