Call for Education Minister to ensure that every school is Welsh medium by 2050

Welsh language activists have called on the Education Minister to ensure that every school in Wales is Welsh medium by 2050.

Their call comes as the Welsh Government prepares to publish the white paper for a proposed Welsh Language Education Bill.

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Cymdeithas yr Iaith has launched its own draft Act which they say emphasises the opportunity the Minister for Education has to ensure Welsh language education for all.

Their draft Education Act includes a package of measures to expand and normalise Welsh-medium education, including establishing a rule that all new schools must be Welsh-medium.

Catrin Dafydd on behalf of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Education Group said :

“There is a once in a generation opportunity from the Welsh Government and the Minister, Jeremy Miles specifically, to draw up a law that will ensure Welsh medium education for everyone.

“It is shameful that a lucky minority get a Welsh education while 80% of young people in Wales continue to study ‘Welsh as a Second Language’.

“There is a consensus that that system deprives a large percentage of children of the ability to speak Welsh fluently, which excludes them from opportunities in their communities, from jobs and from a wealth of Welsh culture.

“The inequality is most evident among disadvantaged communities, migrants and people of colour. If the Government seriously believes that the Welsh language belongs to everyone, the proposed law must ensure Welsh education for everyone, not just the lucky ones.”