05-03-06

CYNON VALLEY PARENTS CELEBRATE

Parents in a South Wales valley are celebrating after a council has finally agreed to their demands for Welsh medium school places. Rhondda Cynon Taff Council has accepted the argument put forward by the parents movement for Welsh medium education, RhAG, that there is more demand for places in Cynon Valley schools than available places.

There are currently two Welsh medium schools in the Cynon Valley, one at each end in Aberdare and Abercynon. To begin with, the Council denied there was any evidence of under-provision even though 31 children could not find places in either of the two schools for this September. Following the decision, the two schools will each open a new stream to begin in September 2006.

Michael Jones, General Secretary of RhAG, said, "We are delighted that decision of these parents to give Welsh medium education to their children has been respected. To be fair to every family in the valley, however, the Council should also be
considering establishing a new school in the centre of the valley in Mountain Ash – weknow from experience that once you establish a school in a completely new area, you always see a larger than expected growth in the number of parents seeking Welsh medium education for their children as it suddenly becomes a practical proposition from the point of view of access. I suspect occasionally that education authorities delay the provision of more Welsh medium education in the hope that the demand will be simply self-regulating. They can't get away from it, however: parents continue to demand Welsh medium education because they want their children to be bilingual with the greater chance it gives them in the jobs market and sense of being part of a very special community and tradition."

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