Welsh-medium Education in South Wales East

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:45 pm on 25 January 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:45, 25 January 2022

Yes, diolch, Llywydd. I thank the Member for that question. Of course, I do welcome very much the growth in Welsh-medium provision in the county of Monmouth and congratulate those who are involved in fostering that growth. It's not that long ago the National Eisteddfod was held very successfully in the county, where Laura Jones's colleague Peter Fox did a great deal to promote that possibility and to make that a success. So, where there is strong local leadership, even in parts of Wales where the language isn't the strongest, we can still achieve very significant growth.

I recognise the points that the Member makes, of course, about the convenience of education through the medium of Welsh and the need to make sure that travel is considered when those plans are being made, and I can assure her that the Ministers responsible—the Minister for education and the Minister with responsibility for transport, Lee Waters—were discussing at the Cabinet only this week ways in which we can deal with some of the complexities that are there in school transport, and put that to work to support our ambitious plans for growing the number of young people receiving education through the medium of Welsh in order to reach our 2050 target.