Learn Welsh and prosper
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Learn Welsh and prosper
https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/learn-welsh-and-prosper
It is a remarkable turnaround for a language which appeared to be dying after the industrial revolution of the 19th century. The Welsh Assembly government’s policy document Iaith Pawb (everyone’s language) recently set a path for the creation of a bilingual Wales. The document aims to increase the percentage of people speaking Welsh to 26 per cent by 2011, suggesting that the number of bilingual pupils will need to increase by 50 per cent by that year.
The Assembly has launched immersion pilots in four English-medium primaries to boost pupils’ skills in Welsh and give parents the option of transferring their children to Welsh-medium education. The number of Welsh-speaking primaries has increased from 445 to 455 in the past 15 years, while secondaries have gone up from 44 to 54. And while 27,897 secondary pupils were classified as Welsh speakers in 1990-1, the figure rose to 40,221 by 2004-5. The number of Welsh-speaking primary pupils shows a rise of more than 3,500 in the four years leading up to 2004-5.
Iolo Dafydd, HMI, Estyn, will talk on bilingualism in Welsh schools on Friday, May 26 at 3pm
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