3. Will the Minister make a statement on plans to celebrate 70 years of Welsh-medium education in the Llynfi? OAQ54143

Thank you, Huw. Seventy years of Welsh-medium education in the Llynfi area will be celebrated. Partners in the Welsh language sector will celebrate that achievement through the borough in the annual Ogi Ogi Ogwr festival, organised by Menter Bro Ogwr, which I understand will take place on 14 July.

Thank you very much for that answer.

Thank you very much for that answer. We had a tremendous celebration as part of this, actually, only a fortnight ago, in Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd, where we had a tremendous concert, with singers and harpists, schools from throughout the area, former parents and pupils and governors, and so on, and a real ambition to look forward.

Can I ask, how will the Welsh Government work with Bridgend County Borough Council, and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, in order to ensure ongoing growth of primary and secondary Welsh-medium education in Wales, and how could this assist in reaching the ambitious target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050?

Well, Huw, I'm very glad to hear about the celebrations that have already been happening in your local area. And I think it's fair to say that we have come a long way since the first Welsh-medium school was opened, in the Presiding Officer's constituency, in Aberystwyth, in 1939. But I would be the first to admit that we need to work harder, and with more ambition, in order to readdress the current imbalance in the Welsh-medium offer that is available locally. And clearly, education has a crucial role to play in achieving the Welsh Government's target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

With regard to local education authorities and county councils, we have outlined our expectation of each local authority, and the methodology is being prepared that sets out the percentage point range increase in learners taught through the medium of Welsh that local authorities will have to meet at our interim milestone of 2031. So, for instance, in Bridgend, we would expect to see the percentage of learners in Welsh-medium education in that area increase from 8.7 per cent to between 15 per cent and 19 per cent. And I know that the Member's constituency also has another local authority area. We would expect figures in the Rhondda Cynon Taf area to increase from 19.2 per cent to between 27 per cent and 31 per cent. We are supporting Bridgend local authority to do that by investment in our twenty-first century schools and colleges programme as well as co-location with nursery and childcare provision that allows people to begin that journey by choosing a bilingual future for their children from the very earliest days when we can provide childcare for them as well as nursery and early years education.

Well, expectations are one thing, Minister, but, in January of this year, the headteacher at that very same Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd said that any further reduction in budget would mean being unable to get specialist teachers, especially through the medium of Welsh. Now we’re all aware of schools’ general concerns about cuts to core funding, but what is our response to this particular claim about Welsh medium and its implications for the 2050 strategy?

Clearly, within the constraints of the very difficult financial settlement the Government is faced with, I’m determined to get as much money to the front line and into individual schools’ budgets as possible. Of course, financial resource is one thing; human resource is also a challenge and I recognise that. That’s why those seeking to qualify as teachers through the medium of Welsh attract the highest level of bursary from the Welsh Government to support their training as well as being subject to golden hellos when they begin their actual teaching career.

We’re working on a number of innovative plans, through from increasing the number of children taking A-level Welsh—many of whom, we know, will go on to be our Welsh teachers of the future— to initial teacher education, but also enabling teachers who are already in the system to increase their language skills via our sabbatical scheme. So, we’re looking to influence our future teachers, our current teachers and ensure that they have the linguistic skills to be able to provide first-quality Welsh-medium education for those families who choose it.

In looking at the most recent record of Bridgend County Borough Council in terms of Welsh-medium education, unfortunately the story isn’t a positive one. The council has failed over recent years to ensure that Welsh-medium education is a realistic option in a number of communities. In reality, a number are concerned locally that there’s an institutional problem in the authority where the Welsh language is concerned. Unfortunately, even Welsh Government targets in the latest consultation document on the Welsh in education strategic plans, in my opinion, are far too low—there is a need to raise the bar significantly. Do you, therefore, as a Minister, agree that the current situation of only having four Welsh-medium schools in the Bridgend county is a complete embarrassment?

Well, the organisation and planning for local schools of whichever medium of tuition is a matter, quite rightly, for local education authorities. What Welsh Government has is an enabling role, and the role of encouraging those education authorities to push the boundaries. And as I said, we have set out our expectations very clearly of the increase in the number of children that we would expect to be taught through the medium of Welsh in that particular county borough, and also, to support that, Bridgend have received approval in principle, of some £2.6 million through the Welsh-medium and childcare offer, and, as I said, that's to ensure that those parents, utilising the opportunity of the Welsh Government's childcare or early years provision, can do that in an extended Welsh-medium sector.