Dowload the RhAG report to the Campaign Committee for a Welsh Medium Federal College
01-03-07
Out of Wales' secondary school pupils, 15.2% are now attending Welsh medium comprehensives, according to figures collected by RhAG (parents for Welsh medium education). This compares to 14% in the year 2000 and 10.1% in 1980.
RhAG includes this information in evidence submitted to the Campaign Committee for a Welsh Medium Federal College.
Heini Gruffudd, who carried out the research, said, "The increase seen since 2000 is promising, although it is due entirely to growth in schools in the south east. The growth has been consistent over the years, and numbers have now reached a level sufficient to justify opening a Welsh medium federal college.
"The percentage of courses at higher education level in Welsh is terrifyingly low - only 2% of students. To go by the figures, there should be potential for 15% of them to be studying through the medium of Welsh by now."
The RhAG evidence shows there are 23 "designated" Welsh medium secondary schools in Wales, chiefly in the Anglicised areas of the south east and north east. In this type of school, all or the majority of teaching is through the medium of Welsh, and all pupils study Welsh as a first language. Two more schools are expected to be added to this list in the near future.
To these should be added 10 schools in Gwynedd and 2 in Anglesey which are run along similar lines to the designated schools and teach Welsh first language to the majority of their pupils.
RhAG also lists those schools which call themselves "bilingual" and which are located mostly across West and Mid Wales. These vary from having a strong to a weak Welsh ethos.
"Important steps have been taken in the Spanish regions of Catalonia and the Basque Country at a university level," said Mr Gruffudd, "but here in Wales we are a long way behind, since we insist on sticking with the English financing system which places Welsh in an inferior position within higher education."
