One Million Welsh Speakers by 2050

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 6 March 2019.

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Photo of Janet Finch-Saunders Janet Finch-Saunders Conservative 2:20, 6 March 2019

Thank you. According to the Welsh Government, Welsh-medium immersion education is the principal method for ensuring that children can develop their Welsh language skills and for the creation of new Welsh speakers. Now, I agree with the importance placed on Welsh-medium education, however, we are seeing the number of Welsh-medium schools fall from 434 in 2013 to 389 in 2018. Moreover, despite the number of children being taught in Welsh having increased, many are now concerned that the impact of Welsh-medium schools closing has not been fully considered. Therefore, what assessment have you made of the impact of these continuing school closures and the impact on the use of the Welsh language—how this is impacting on the use of the Welsh language and how it will ultimately impact on the aim of achieving a million speakers by 2050?