The National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales: Iaith Pawb

Because of time constraints, I was unable to complete my speech at the debate on Iaith Pawb on Wednesday, 15 January 2003 and I am, therefore, issuing this Written Cabinet Statement to set out in full our intentions in support of Welsh in the context of the Action Plan.

I am a great supporter of the Welsh language. Education and training has had – and will continue to have - a key role in shaping the linguistic pattern of Wales. The majority of the education and training agenda in Wales is currently delivered through two languages. All the strategic documents which have been published since I became Minister have made this absolutely clear.  For instance, ‘The Learning Country’ celebrates the fact that we are a bilingual nation ; The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice for Wales says that services should be delivered in the language of choice ; ‘Reaching Higher sets a target for increasing the numbers of students receiving teaching through the medium of Welsh by 2010 ; the remit letters of all our education and training Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies requires those bodies to take full account of the language in the way they conduct their business. We are already doing a great deal to support the language in every aspect of the education and training agenda but we are always looking for opportunities to promote, publicise and expand the use of the language. I chose not to incorporate into Iaith Pawb all  the very positive measures we are taking in support of Welsh because I wanted to concentrate on the things we shall be doing to respond to Our Language : Its Future and to take forward those aspects of support for the language not already covered by existing policies and activities. Iaith Pawb has to be read alongside our earlier strategic documents – and the actions which back them –in order to understand the breadth of our commitment.

We should not forget the significant increase and expansion that has occurred in recent years. Almost every pupil now studies Welsh at school. Only about 1 per cent do not do so, compared to 20 per cent in 1997. Since 1990, 14 Welsh-medium primary schools and 3 new secondary schools have been opened. Proposals have been published for three new Welsh-medium primary schools in Caerphilly and at least three other authorities are considering additional primary and secondary schools. ACCAC has published over 1,000 new titles since 1995.

Our new qualification—the Welsh Baccalaureate—will be available in Welsh, in English, or in a combination of both languages.

We have much to celebrate about the language, especially the increasing number of parents and children who choose Welsh-medium education. That has been extremely successful.  

There will be more to celebrate as the policies in ‘Iaith Pawb’ are developed.

We have achieved successes in supporting the language because of the strong consensus that was built around it because the Assembly Government and its many partners have co-operated to allow the existing mechanisms to work. The process of preparing Education Strategic Plans, School Organisation Plans and the Welsh Language Education Schemes  - with clear lines of responsibility for each - has been shown to work. The Welsh Language Board confirmed that earlier this week. However, the plans must work more effectively in future and we have started preparing new guidance to ensure that, as the Committee requested.

Setting detailed targets for all aspects of education and training would not work. That is not strategic. It is unrealistic to expect swift expansion at all levels of education and training as only about 20 per cent of the population can speak Welsh. This becomes even clearer when one considers how few of that 20 per cent are actively engaged in delivering Welsh-medium education and training. Our priority should be to develop the people who can deliver the expansion.

A “command and control” model in which the centre directs the number of Welsh-medium schools or the number of pupils in such schools will not work. What works is allowing those with statutory responsibility to plan sensibly to meet and encourage demand

In key areas, such as the number of Welsh-medium schools, the statutory responsibility clearly rests with the local education authorities. They must assess the demand and they have the responsibility of working out how to meet it.

We discussed this in the Education and Lifelong Learning Committee during the policy review, and there was no consensus for doing anything other than letting this remain – rightly - in the hands of the LEAs. The additional funding that Jenny Randerson is making available to the Welsh Language Board will enable it to monitor the local authorities’ Welsh Language Education Schemes more effectively and therefore we do not need another framework. It is important that local needs are met by those with a statutory duty to do so. I am fully committed to work with all our partners to ensure that this happens.

‘Iaith Pawb’ is the strategic framework. The Education and Lifelong Learning Committee also said that we must give guidance and provide a mechanism, and I am doing both those things. The expansion of Welsh medium education depends on non-Welsh speakers choosing to send their children to Welsh schools. That is what accounts for the growth in the past and what will also account for it in future.

Iaith Pawb’ is a strategic document because it has identified the main areas on which we should concentrate in the near future - ensuring more Welsh-speaking and bilingual practitioners in early years education, sabbaticals for teachers to learn the language, and more Welsh-speaking practitioners in the post-16 period.

‘Iaith Pawb’ offers an additional £7 million to train more Welsh-speaking and bilingual practitioners in early years education, more funding for the Welsh Medium Incentive Supplement to attract more Welsh-medium teachers into the profession, more funding for ACCAC to support its commissioning and Welsh-medium qualifications work, and £1 million a year to increase the number of post-16 practitioners who can teach through the medium of Welsh, including language sabbaticals.

We are already implementing a great deal of what Assembly Members want us to do but we may not have said so clearly enough in the Plan.

I am happy to confirm, therefore, that I am already taking forward a number of key issues. First, I shall be consulting later this year on definitions of Welsh language provision in schools, based on the advice from the expert group which also provided advice on immersion and intensive language teaching following my visit to Canada. Second, the discussions which have already begun with ACCAC will be expanded to include Estyn and the Welsh Language Board in order to examine in greater detail the issue of continuity, particularly in the transition from primary to secondary school.  Third, and in parallel with the work on continuity, I shall expect ACCAC, Estyn and the Board to examine the feasibility of measuring pupils’ competence in Welsh along a linguistic continuum.  I will make the appropriate amendments to the text of the education chapter to reflect these developments.

Earlier this week, I met Rhodri Williams and Meirion Prys Jones from the Welsh Language Board. They confirmed that they were happy with the direction in which we are going. I have also agreed to meet the Board – probably twice a year – to discuss a range of issues across the education and training agenda.

This is the first language action plan for Wales. Rightly, it identifies education as a key – if not the key – policy area which will have the greatest impact on language expansion. I will certainly play my part in encouraging the people of Wales to celebrate living in a country with two official languages and all the rich heritage that this brings with it.