Wales to put education at the “heart of ambition” by achieving one million Welsh speakers

 Wales plans to put education at the “heart of ambition” by achieving one million Welsh speakers by 2050

A new plan that puts education at the heart of the Welsh Government’s ambition to achieve one million Welsh speakers by 2050 has been published by Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning Eluned Morgan.

The plan builds on the 2010 Welsh-medium Education Strategy and sets the direction for the development of Welsh-medium and Welsh language education over the next four years with the aim of ensuring that all young people, from all backgrounds, come out of the education system ready and proud to use the language in all contexts.

The plan’s five main objectives, to be delivered by 2021, are: to develop a new Welsh language; to increase opportunities for children and young people to use their Welsh in various contexts and embed their language use patterns from an early age; to support leaders and practitioners in Wales to continue to develop their Welsh language skills and have the knowledge and expertise to deliver the curriculum through the medium of Welsh and Welsh as a subject; to increase the number of learners in Welsh-medium settings; and to ensure that all learners can have equal access to Welsh-medium education and experience the best opportunities to develop their language skills.

Making the announcement, the minister said: “I was one of a handful of children from my estate in Cardiff who had my education through the medium of Welsh and distinctly remember having stones thrown at our bus full of primary school children as they objected to having a Welsh language school in their neighbourhood. I am delighted that the attitude towards the language has changed fundamentally from when I was a child and that we now have the opportunity to build on this goodwill.

“Reaching a million Welsh speakers by 2050 is a significant challenge. Inspiring the next generation, particularly those from non-Welsh speaking families, to embrace the language and to use it in all contexts is vitally important in achieving this target.”

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