11-10-07
In Wales we are familiar with the idea of children from English-speaking families learning to speak Welsh just as well as those from Welsh-speaking families by attending Welsh medium schools from early on. But schemes have been running for a time in North Wales which allow children from English medium primary schools to be "immersed" in the language in special classes with the object of absorbing them later into the main streams of Welsh medium secondary schools.
The Annual General Meeting of RhAG (the movement of parents for Welsh medium education) will hear about how successful these schemes have been in presentations by Huw Foster Evans, head of Ysgol Morgan Llwyd in Wrexham and Huw Alun Roberts, head of Ysgol Maes Garmon in Mold.
The Annual General Meeting is taking place at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd, Cefn Road, Wrexham, on Saturday October 13th. The guest speakers will begin their presentations at 12 noon.
According to the latest figures, 19.3% of primary school pupils in Wales receive their education through the medium of Welsh and 15.7% of secondary school pupils (figures based on those who study "First Language Welsh'). The Welsh Assembly Government and Welsh Local Authorities accept the principle that every child should be able to receive Welsh medium education, but unfortunately there are not enough Welsh medium schools within a reasonable distance of all households by any means. Research has shown that up to 50% of parents would choose Welsh medium education for their children if it were just as accessible as English medium education. RhAG works to convince local authorities and the Assembly to fully meet this demand.
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