Do kids have the right to Welsh and English education?

Local TV

We’re asking people in Cardiff if they think that all parents of children in Wales should have the right to choose between English or Welsh education.

Transcript

00:00We're lucky here in Wales. Whereas other countries have one language, we've got two. It's hard

00:06to deny that English is the de facto first language of Wales. We all speak it, but so

00:11many of us also wish we spoke our native tongue, Cymraig. There are Welsh and English language

00:16schools all across the country, and thousands of young people right now are being educated

00:21in both languages. The problems come, though, when you look at certain areas.

00:26Gwynedd Council have recently said they're looking to promote Welsh language schools and

00:30cut the amount of English schools in the authority. While in other parts of the country, it can

00:35be a nightmare for parents to find a Welsh school. The Tories have announced plans to safeguard

00:41both languages in Wales if they were to be voted in the Senate next year, while Plaid and

00:46Labour have both consistently pushed for better Welsh language provisions in the country.

00:51Reform UK have said that they'll scrap Welsh language targets, saying it should be encouraged

00:55and not forced. I'm here in Cardiff, asking people if they think that kids all across Wales

01:01have the right to be taught in either English or Welsh.

01:04Yes, I do, firmly. One of my granddaughters is a Welsh speaker. The other one isn't. But

01:11it's so nice to, you know, the one does speak our language Welsh.

01:15I think there should be, you know, equal opportunity to learn our ancestry language. And therefore,

01:21if you can't speak our ancestral language, then what's the point of living in Wales?

01:25Obviously, English is an international language spoken worldwide. And of course, English is

01:30obviously the first language. But there should be a third division in regards to who's speaking

01:35Welsh. And Welsh, it's not just to be spoken in North Wales, it should be all around Wales,

01:40as I say. The fantastic Welsh schools here, my new school's the one. And I like going to the rugby

01:48singing the Welsh national anthem. And Welsh through and through, I identify that.

01:52Yeah, sure. Both languages should have, you know, an equal crack of the whip, as it were.

02:00Yes. Without a doubt, yes, should be helping that. I mean, you know, if you're the Welsh government,

02:06you're there to help the Welsh people, really, aren't you? If the Welsh people want to have a Welsh

02:11education for their children, then they should help them.

02:13Well, being in Wales, obviously, we teach Welsh for the first language in Wales, regardless of the

02:19North or South. At the end of the day, it's our ancestry language. So that should come first

02:26before English, in my opinion. What we've got to do is have a pragmatic look at things again

02:33with education and be more forthright with it. You know, we want to retain as much of our culture

02:43as proper as we can. But looking at the education and all the pressures put on education at the

02:49moment, the teachers are under a lot of pressure. I mean, we need some sort of engagement with

02:56government. I'm not feeling that.

02:58Yeah.

02:59Yeah.

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