Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:45 pm on 8 December 2021.
Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Yesterday, I met with the committee of Cardiff University Welsh Students' Union, which have been campaigning for many years to have a full-time sabbatical Welsh language officer within the union. Swansea, Bangor and Aberystwyth universities have had similar positions in place for many years, but here in Cardiff, where there are over 3,000 Welsh speakers and Welsh learners—the highest number of Welsh speakers in any of our universities—there is no sabbatical position. According to the president of the Welsh student union, such an officer could provide important services to students through the medium of Welsh, arrange events to raise awareness of the language, ensure that the voice of Welsh speakers could be heard within the union, and also provide a space for young people to come together to use the language on a social level. It also ensures that democracy is respected because the students had voted more than once in the past in favour of having this kind of sabbatical officer. So, does the Minister agree with me that it is about time that Welsh students were given fair play here in the university of our capital city, and would he be willing to write to the board of trustees, who will meet next Thursday apparently, in order to support the Welsh students' campaign?