Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:05 pm on 10 October 2017.
Llywydd, I agree with the point that the Member has made, and the Government has historically been quite shy about these issues. I’m less shy. I have seen the advantages of Welsh-medium education in my own family and I see the advantages of having Welsh-medium education for children across the country, which allows them to be part of the wealth of cultural inheritance that we have. I think that that is vital.
In the next few months I will be considering how we can stimulate that demand, as you’ve described, and also ensure that we can persuade people that Welsh-medium education is a real option for their children, wherever they live and whatever the language of the household is, and to allow people to have access to Welsh-medium education. Very often, having access to that Welsh-medium education is one of the main barriers in terms of entering the Welsh-medium system. So, it’s making it a real option for people in every part of the country, ensuring that people can have schools close to their homes, ensuring, then, that people can feel at home moving to the Welsh-medium option, if Welsh is not the language of the household, and then supporting families who make that choice, and moving forward in a way that several Members have described this afternoon, through having more opportunities for very, very young children to learn Welsh and get to grips with the language.