Gibson Ferguson Language Planning and Education Edinburgh ...

100 Language Planning and Education
Table 4.3 Welsh teaching in maintained primary schools
1992/93 2001/2002
Numbers of % of Numbers of % of
pupils pupils pupils pupils
Pupils in classes where Welsh is the
sole or main medium of instruction
Pupils in classes where Welsh is the
46,088 16.6 51,344 18.2
medium for part of the curriculum
Pupils in classes where Welsh is taught
8,986 3.2 5,034 1.8
as a second language 175,323 63.3 222,337 78.7
Pupils not being taught Welsh 46,684 16.9 3,861 1.4
Total 277,081 100 282,576 100
In 2000 there were 445 primary schools with Welsh as the sole or main medium of education (26.8% of
all primary schools), educating approximately 20% of all primary school pupils.
(Sources: National Assembly for Wales 2003, Digest of Welsh Statistics 2002. Cardiff: Wales;
Welsh Language Board 1999, Continuity in Welsh language Education. Cardiff: Wales)
Table 4.4 Welsh teaching in maintained secondary schools
(in year groups 7 to 11)
1992/93 2001/2002
Numbers of % of Numbers of % of
pupils pupils pupils pupils
Pupils taught Welsh as a first language 20,552 12.1 26, 967 14.4
Pupils taught Welsh as a second language 94,663 55.9 158,185 84.5
Not taught Welsh 54,195 32.0 1,960 1.0
Total 169,410 100 186,081 100
In 2001 there were 53 ‘Welsh-speaking’ secondary schools, defined as schools where half the curriculum
is delivered in Welsh (around 23% of all secondary schools). These schools were attended by approximately
18% of secondary pupils.
(Sources: National Assembly for Wales 2003, Digest of Welsh Statistics 2002. Cardiff: Wales.
National Assembly for Wales 2002, Our Language, its Future: Policy Review of the
Welsh Language. Cardiff: Wales)
a growing perception that knowledge of Welsh enhances employability – a consequence
itself of the stronger presence of Welsh in the public sector and the service
and leisure economy (e.g. in retailing, media, public relations, etc.).
Alongside the contribution of primary and secondary education, one should also
mention Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin (the Welsh-medium nursery school movement),
established in 1971, which in 1998 comprised 570 nursery groups and 386 toddler
groups (‘cylchoedd ti a fi’) catering to some 13,500 children of whom no less than
61 per cent came from non-Welsh-speaking homes (Aitchison and Carter 2000: