Call for all schools to be bilingual

AFORMER leader of Cardiff Council has argued that the city should only consider opening new schools if they are Welsh-medium or bilingual.

In a discussion organised by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, the Welsh Language Society, as part of the Tafwyl festival in Cardiff Castle, Labour councillor Phil Bale, who led the council from 2014-17, said aligning policy about whether schools should teach in Welsh or English with historical population trends would contribute to the growth in pupils leaving school in the capital unable to speak Welsh.

“Our new [council] strategy... is focused on delivering Cardiff’s population share of the Welsh Government’s One Million target [for Welsh speakers],” he said. “But there is no reason why we should not aim to go well beyond this.

“The city also needs to be bold in decisions on whether new-build schools in Cardiff should be English– or Welsh-medium in the future.

“At present, the council states that the language choice of new schools will be based on likely future population growth, as well as historical trends in demand for Welsh-medium school places. If Cardiff is serious about reducing the significant number of pupils leaving Cardiff’s English-medium schools with little or no skills in Welsh, then reverting to a policy of only opening either bilingual or Welsh-medium schools also now needs serious consideration.”

Speaking about how to use the planning system to strengthen the language, Mr Bale said that the council needs to ensure that every shop increases the status and use of the language.

He said: “While in some parts of Wales planning policies have been central to helping protect the language, in Wales’ cities... the Welsh language has not been treated as a material factor in deciding planning applications and how they might be able to support a bilingual city, either directly – through signage or street names – or indirectly through section 106 community benefit payments.

“The council [is] due to bring forward revised... planning guidance for shopfronts and signage later this year.”