Welsh medium education
Education delivered through the medium of the Welsh language is known as Welsh medium education (Welsh: Addysg Cyfrwng Cymraeg).
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Roughly a quarter of schoolchildren in Wales now receive their education through the medium of Welsh. Children wishing to join a Welsh medium school do not have to speak Welsh to attend if they are young enough to learn the language quickly. Ysgol Glan Clwyd is an example; although 70% of the pupils attending this school come from homes where English is the main or only language, 95% of pupils finish their education speaking Welsh as well as a native speaker. Ysgol Glan Clwyd was the first Welsh-medium secondary (comprehensive) school, and opened in Rhyl in 1956.
Nursery Education
The Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin has established play groups and nurseries throughout Wales which allow children to learn Welsh through immersion. The spread of such nurseries has ensured strong demand from parents for Welsh Medium primary schools. The success of MYM inspired the Ikastolak movement in the Basque Country and the Diwan movement in Brittany. [citation needed]
Primary Education
In the primary school sector, the numbers of children in Welsh-medium schools (or in the Welsh-medium stream of dual stream schools) has grown steadily in recent years.
School year | Total pupils | WM pupils | WM as % | % inc |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000/2001 | 262,751 | 49,422 | 18.81% | |
2001/2002 | 260,151 | 49,687 | 19.10% | +1.5% |
2002/2003 | 256,690 | 50,756 | 19.77% | +3.5% |
2003/2004 | 252,230 | 51,131 | 20.27% | +2.5% |
2004/2005 | 248,328 | 52,792 | 21.26% | +4.9% |
2005/2006 | 243,982 | 52,867 | 21.67% | +1.9% |
2006/2007 | 240,621 | 54,099 | 22.48% | +3.7% |
2007/2008 | 237,917 | 54,895 | 23.07% | +2.6% |
2008/2009 | 258,314 | 59,989 | 23.22% | +0.7% |
2009/2010 | 257,445 | 60,318 | 23.43% | +0.9% |
2010/2011 | 259,189 | 61,073 | 23.56% | +0.6% |
2011/2012 | 262,144 | 62,446 | 23.82% | +1.1% |
Information taken from Schools in Wales (accessed 23 July 2010) Update for last three years taken from School Census Results, 2012 (accessed 17 May 2013)
Secondary Education
The percentage of children in Welsh-medium secondary schools is slightly less than in primary schools, but is also growing, with 2007/2008 seeing a major increase compared to 2006/2007.
School year | Total pupils | WM pupils | WM as % | % inc |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000/2001 | 210,396 | 38,007 | 18.06% | |
2001/2002 | 212,024 | 38,817 | 18.31% | +1.4% |
2002/2003 | 214,276 | 39,458 | 18.41% | +0.5% |
2003/2004 | 215,609 | 40,169 | 18.63% | +1.2% |
2004/2005 | 214,626 | 40,221 | 18.74% | +0.6% |
2005/2006 | 213,045 | 40,828 | 19.16% | +2.2% |
2006/2007 | 210,353 | 40,702 | 19.35% | +1.0% |
2007/2008 | 206,936 | 40,756 | 19.69% | +1.8% |
2008/2009 | 205,421 | 41,916 | 20.40% | +3.6% |
2009/2010 | 203,907 | 43,432 | 21.30% | +4.4% |
2010/2011 | 201,230 | 41,764 | 20.75% | -2.7% |
2011/2012 | 198,015 | 41,262 | 20.84% | +0.4% |
Information taken from Schools in Wales (accessed 23 July 2010) Update for last three years taken from School Census Results, 2012 (accessed 17 May 2013)
Effects
In 2013, reporting on comments by former Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, the BBC reported that the admissions officer for Oxford University indicated that Welsh medium schools were especially reluctant to encourage pupils to seek places at top UK universities if this meant leaving Wales, which reportedly has contributed to a decrease in the number of Welsh pupils gaining places. Murphy had indicated that "students from the south Wales valleys are five times less likely to apply to Oxford or Cambridge than students in some of the more affluent English counties", said the BBC.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ "Paul Murphy: Teachers 'lack Oxbridge ambition'". BBC News. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
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