Written Statement: Additional funding of £0.8m to the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol

I’m pleased to announce that it was agreed in the Final Budget on 2 March 2021, additional financial support of £0.8m to the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol in next financial year, reinforcing our commitments in Cymraeg 2050.  The total funding allocated to the Coleg for post-16 and higher education will be £7.303.  This additional support will progress the implementation of Welsh-medium and bilingual further education and apprenticeships in priority areas. Funding will increase the number of bilingual tutors in colleges across Wales from September 2021.

This announcement will enable the Coleg to support the further education sector to extend Welsh-medium and bilingual courses available to learners in the areas of health and social care, childcare and public services.  There is a demand for a bilingual workforce in these priority areas and the Coleg will concentrate its efforts to work with the sectors to ensure our learners have the required skills when they complete their education and training.

The additional funding of £0.8m has been allocated to the Coleg to allow colleges to employ up to two full time equivalent bilingual tutors in the three priority areas for an agreed period.  The aim is to attract up to 2,000 new learners from the Welsh-medium schools to undertake some or most of their learning through the medium of Welsh or bilingually, and to provide opportunity for those progressing from English medium schools to continue to improve their Welsh language skills. The funding will provide a route to strengthen the bilingual ethos and offer real opportunities to engage with the language post-16.