Fall in pupils learning in Welsh sparks action calls

THE Welsh Government must do more to address “considerable weaknesses” in the strategies it employs to promote Welsh-medium education, a cross-party Assembly committee warns today.

The Children, Young People and Education Committee (CYPEC) found that in areas with high numbers of Welshspeakers – including Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire – the number of children learning in Welsh is falling.

The slide flies in the face of the aims of Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (Wesps), which are drawn up by local authorities to boost the number of children and young people being taught and studying for qualifications through the medium of Welsh.

Nationally the Welsh Government has already admitted missing its Welshmedium education targets for 2015 – and is likely to again in 2020.

Part of the problem identified by the committee is the lack of accountability and co-ordination between local authorities and the Welsh Government.

David Rees, Labour AM for Aberavon and acting chairman of the CYPEC, said: “The committee fully supports the Welsh Government’s intentions behind its Welsh-Medium Education Strategy.

“But we feel there are considerable weaknesses between the strategy at national level and the plans to deliver on the ground.

“That targets are being missed, and that in areas where you would perhaps expect to find growing numbers they are actually falling, is concerning.

“We believe there must be a much better level of co-ordination and accountability between government and authority to deliver these plans, with the power to intervene retained by the government for failing areas.”

The Welsh Government’s WelshMedium Education Strategy sets targets and local authorities are responsible for translating them into tangible outcomes through Wesps.

But the committee said nothing it heard during its inquiry into Wesps suggested that the Welsh Government and local authorities were working together sufficiently in order to achieve those targets.

Members said they wanted to see more transparency in how Wesps were developed and on what basis their targets were decided.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Government said Education Minister Huw Lewis would consider the findings of the committee’s report and respond formally in due course. All 22 local authorities are required to submit their revised plans by December 20 for his approval.