Written question WQ91321
- Asked by
- Janet Finch-SaundersConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 7 days
Question
How does the Welsh Government aim to fulfil and reach their educational target of 1 million Welsh speakers, with the potential cuts to education across Wales?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
All Local Authorities have committed to ambitious targets within their Welsh in Education Strategic Plans in line with the education milestones set out in Cymraeg 2050. Plans have been operational since 2022.
Local Authorities and other partner organisations have already taken significant steps to strengthen their partnerships locally in order to make continuous progress on growing Welsh medium education within their areas. Maintaining these strong partnerships has been identified as a crucial component of implementing the Welsh in Education Strategic Plans.
Last year we consulted on proposals that will form the basis of a Welsh Education Bill, which will take steps to enable all pupils in Wales to become confident Welsh speakers and further support our aims to reach our target of 1 million Welsh speakers. One of the key proposals is to impose a duty on local authorities to take steps to promote Welsh-medium education. From April 2024 we will be providing funding Local Authorities funding via the Local Authority Education Grant (LAEG) with four grant elements, including a Cymraeg 2050 element which will focus on supporting the infrastructure and growth of Welsh in education.