Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 3:07 pm on 8 December 2021.
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.