The Minister for Education and Welsh Language will set out today how local authorities aim to increase Welsh-medium education in their areas.
Local authorities across Wales are finalising their Welsh Education Strategic Plans (WESPs), which set out how they plan to grow Welsh-medium education in their areas over the next 10 years.
The plans include 23 new Welsh-medium new primary schools across Wales. There are also plans to increase the capacity of 25 existing Welsh-medium primary schools.
The Welsh Government has set targets for 26% of Year 1 learners to be receiving education in Welsh by 2026, rising to 30% by 2031. Since 2018, the Welsh Government has invested £76 million in infrastructure projects to create 4,000 additional Welsh-medium childcare, school or ‘late immersion’ places.
Each local authority will need to agree its final WESP and are required to publish their plans by 1 September 2022, in accordance with the Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (Wales) Regulations 2019.
The Minister, Jeremy Miles, said:
I’m pleased to see the ambition in many of the plans we’ve received, in particular how some local authorities have set themselves targets which exceed our expectations. With these plans in place, I have every confidence in achieving our targets for 2026 and 2031, with the ultimate goal of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.
My message is clear, I want Welsh-medium education to be an option for everyone and I want everyone to have the opportunity to be bilingual citizens of Wales.