7. What support does the Welsh Government give to Mudiad Meithrin to provide Ti a Fi services? OQ57307

Through Welsh Government grant support, Mudiad Meithrin maintains and supports Ti a Fi provision across Wales. In addition, through our programme of extending provision, cylchoedd Ti a Fi are being established to support the development of new cylchoedd meithrin.

Can I thank the Minister for that response? If the intention to reach a million Welsh speakers is going to be met, then getting more children being educated through the medium of Welsh is the best and easiest way of doing so. Does the Minister accept that Ti a Fi is the first step to learning Welsh for many children, especially those who come from English-speaking backgrounds? What further support can the Welsh Government provide to Ti a Fi and Mudiad Meithrin? And as everybody else is throwing out invitations, can I invite you to visit a Ti a Fi and Mudiad Meithrin within Swansea East?  

I will be delighted to do that. I'm going to struggle to find time for anything else, I think, at the end of this session today, but I certainly will.

I agree with the Member. The cylchoedd Ti a Fi are a very important step on the journey to Welsh-medium education. They do provide an opportunity for young children to socialise and play through the medium of Welsh, and also an opportunity for parents to meet to share experiences and socialise in a Welsh environment. In Swansea, at the start of the last academic year, 208 children had been registered in cylchoedd meithrin, and nearly half of those had been in cylchoedd Ti a Fi before that, and about 77 per cent of children moved from those cylchoedd meithrin into Welsh-medium education. So, it's evident that this is a very important part of increasing provision and increasing demand, which is an important element of that. It's more than just meeting demand; it's about driving more demand. Ti a Fi provision has been affected seriously by COVID-19, but, this year, Mudiad Meithrin is putting a particular emphasis on restarting Ti a Fi provision, employing more officials to facilitate this. And through the Welsh Government's support, Mudiad Meithrin has set a target to reopen more than 300 cylchoedd Ti a Fi in order to reach the provision levels that existed before the pandemic.