9. Will the Minister make a statement on the impact of recently announced school closures in Powys on the Welsh Government's targets to expand Welsh-medium education? OQ57888

Powys commits to improving access to Welsh-medium education across all key stages, and their recently submitted Welsh in education strategic plans propose to introduce new Welsh-medium primary provision across four areas within the first five years, contributing to their overall target to increase the percentage of learners in Welsh-medium education to at least 36 per cent by 2032.

Diolch, Weinidog. You will be aware of the decision of Powys County Council to close rural schools in the area, which has been a devastating blow for many communities. I am increasingly concerned about the impact this so-called transformation programme will have on Welsh-medium education in Powys, so thank you for your response. The commitment of many of these rural schools to Welsh education is impressive, and I know you share my concerns that this programme of closing schools may mean that these communities will have the Welsh language decimated and, potentially, disappearing. So, may I ask what additional attention you'll be giving to ensure that Welsh education programmes can thrive in rural schools? Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Well, just with the caveat that I gave to Andrew R.T. Davies about being able to comment on specific proposals, on the broader question that the Member makes about Welsh-medium education in Powys, I should say that I'm currently assessing all of the Welsh in education strategic plans at the moment. I'll be making an announcement on whether to approve, approve with modifications or reject those plans before the end of the summer term. She may know that Powys has committed, as I mentioned earlier, to those four new Welsh-medium primary provisions that will benefit Crickhowell, Hay-on-Wye, Presteigne and the north Powys area. There is also a commitment in the WESP to supporting dual stream English-medium primary schools to move along the language continuum, and to do that using immersion practices. There's a pilot in Ysgol y Cribarth that I'm sure she will be aware of, which is a great example of this, and I'm looking forward to visiting there in May. I've also, as we were discussing earlier in this session, announced £2.2 million in the Welsh immersion grant last September. Powys has benefited from that grant to pilot a new Welsh-language immersion centre at Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd in Newtown. The Welsh in education strategic plan in Powys is ambitious, as it is in other parts of Wales, and as Minister I fully expect those ambitions to be met.   

I thank the Minister.