Teaching Welsh to Adults

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 5 June 2019.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 1:55, 5 June 2019

Well, you're absolutely correct to say that adults learning the language, whether they are infrequent visitors to Wales or people who move to our nation, will play an important part in the Government's reaching its target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050. Following the 2021 census, the assumption is that an additional 2,000 adults will become Welsh speakers every year, and the Welsh for adults sector will be the main mechanism for achieving this. As I said, we continue to work across ministerial portfolios and with the national centre to look to see what more we can do to promote the availability of our adult learning, as well as making sure that, when people do come to Wales as tourists, we increase the opportunity for young people who work in that industry to be able to utilise their Welsh language skills. And that's one of the reasons why we have extended the role and remit of the coleg cenedlaethol, not just in higher education but also into further education, so those children who are developing technical qualifications can see a real place and a real economic as well as a social and cultural value in being able to continue to study through the medium of Welsh, or utilise Welsh medium skills they've acquired earlier in their educational journey.