Cymraeg 2050, the Welsh Government’s Welsh language strategy, aims to increase the number of Welsh speakers to one million, and double daily use of Welsh from 10% to 20% by 2050. The Welsh Government says the education system is “integral” to achieving this agenda.
In July, the Welsh Government introduced the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill into the Senedd’s legislative process. The Bill proposes changes to how statutory Welsh language education provision is planned and delivered. It aims to ensure all young people become independent Welsh language users by the time they reach the end of compulsory school age. We’ve published a Bill Summary providing more detail on what the Bill proposes, its background and what the Welsh Government hopes to achieve.
The Senedd’s Children, Young People and Education (CYPE) Committee is scrutinising the Bill and recently reported on its general principles, making 11 recommendations to the Welsh Government. This article explores some of the main issues raised during the Bill’s scrutiny, ahead of the Senedd’s debate on Tuesday (14 January).
General support for the principles of the Bill
The CYPE Committee, with the addition of two Members of the Culture and Welsh Language Committee attending for Stage 1 scrutiny, supported the general principles of the Bill. It recommended that the Senedd agrees to these, and votes to enable the Bill to advance to the next stage. However, the Committee highlighted issues regarding clarity within the Bill and concerns with some aspects of its implementation.
Core to those concerns are the pressures that local authorities, schools and the teaching workforce are under at present, and that such an ambition set out in legislation must be supported by the Welsh Government “financially and via other means”. Head teacher unions, NAHT and ASCL, supported the aims of the Bill but couldn’t support it in the current climate. On the other hand, Cymdeithas yr Iaith felt the Bill is “not nearly strong enough at the moment to bring about the radical change needed” and were disappointed that the Committee’s recommendations didn’t reflect their concerns more fully.
A bilingual workforce
The education sector is facing a period of significant change, with the new Curriculum for Wales and a reformed ALN (Additional Learning Needs) system bedding in.
There are also a number of other challenges. The sector is still dealing with the impact of the pandemic, there are teacher recruitment and retention issues, and school budgets are under pressure. These also sit alongside other priorities, such as improving attendance and raising standards. The Committee stressed the need to “acknowledge the impact that level of change has, and we must be mindful of the pressure it places on everyone”. However, in order to deliver on the Bill’s aims, the Committee says developing a bilingual workforce is key.
While the Welsh Government currently has a Welsh in Education Workforce Plan, some stakeholders called for a statutory plan and targets to be included in the Bill. The Committee noted education workforce issues more generally and concluded there was a need for a “more robust approach to workforce planning”. It recommended that the Welsh Government identifies the “most appropriate legislative mechanism to place a duty on the Welsh Ministers to prepare a statutory education workforce plan which includes targets, and a timeframe, for recruitment and retention”.
Greater clarity needed on school language categories and the definition of ‘Welsh-medium education’
At the heart of the Bill are proposals for updating the existing (non-statutory) language categories for schools. It requires schools to have a ‘Welsh Language Education Delivery Plan’, and to deliver an amount of Welsh language education as required by their category. These amounts will be set out in future regulations, although the Bill does stipulate that in the case of ‘Primarily English Language, partly Welsh’ schools this must not be lower than 10% of curriculum time.
Some stakeholders, including the Welsh Language Commissioner, are concerned that the amount of Welsh language education to be provided by ‘Primarily Welsh Language’ schools is too vague. It’s been suggested it risks undermining or devaluing Welsh-medium education if not set at a level which ensures the large majority of provision in those schools is in Welsh. For example, the existing sub-category of Designated Welsh-medium schools, where pupils are taught 90% of the time in Welsh, is not included in the Bill. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language said this would be “capture[d] … through the regulation-making process”.
The Bill uses the term ‘Welsh language education’ to mean both teaching through the medium of Welsh and teaching Welsh as a subject. For some, including Dyfodol i’r Iaith, Rhieni dros Addysg Gymraeg (RhAG) and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, this conflates and confuses two distinct concepts. The Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol stated that this “lack of distinction” could result in a “lack of focus on protecting and increasing ‘Welsh-medium education’”. The Committee concluded that the Bill needs to be clearer about this distinction.
The National Institute and the complex post-16 landscape
While the Bill’s focus is mainly on developing Welsh language education provision in the statutory school sector, it seeks to influence a learner’s Welsh language journey from early-years through to adult learning.
The Bill proposes to establish a new National Institute for Learning Welsh to support people of all ages to learn Welsh and facilitate their progress. As such, it is intended that the post-16 sector will play a significant role in supporting learners’ progression from the statutory sector to support them to undertake further and higher education, and apprenticeships, through the medium of Welsh.
However, the Committee’s report highlighted concerns, particularly from Medr (Commission for Tertiary Education and Research), that the National Institute will be joining a complex landscape of organisations in the post-16 sector. Medr stated that it would be “really helpful” if the Explanatory Memorandum provided greater clarity about the respective roles of both organisations. The Committee agreed, and sought clarity from the Welsh Government about how the Institute will “fit into the wider tertiary education sector”.
Linking up planning at a school, local and national level
There is uncertainty about the role of the tertiary (post-16) education sector in the delivery of the ‘National Framework for Welsh Language Education and Learning Welsh’. The Framework will set out how the Welsh Government will implement its Welsh language strategy and seeks to bring a “clear line of accountability” at a national, local and school level for the planning of Welsh language education. It must cover teaching and learning of Welsh at all ages but the tertiary sector was unsure about the role various organisations will play, which the Committee recommended the Welsh Government clarifies.
The Bill retains ‘Welsh in Education Strategic Plans’, which local authorities are required to have in place. However, it takes forward a “shift in mindset” on these plans, signalled by the Welsh Government’s 2023 White Paper. Under the Bill, the Welsh Government will now set local authorities’ strategic aims for planning Welsh in education, whose function will be to plan and implement. Local government representatives told the Committee it was content with this.
What happens next?
The CYPE Committee made a total of 11 recommendations for the Welsh Government to consider, aimed at strengthening the Bill. The Bill was also considered by the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee and the Finance Committee.
On Tuesday 14 January, the Senedd will vote on whether to support the general principles of the Bill. If the Senedd decides to support the Bill, Senedd Members will be given opportunities to seek amendments before a final vote takes place in a few months’ time.
You can follow the debate live on Senedd.tv and read the transcript approximately 24 hours later.
Article by Osian Bowyer and Michael Dauncey, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
