The Welsh Government have plans to get a million people in Wales speaking Welsh by 2050, but recent figures show little to no progress. The newest effort to get more young people learning Welsh has just been passed in the Senedd and will categorise schools depending on how much Welsh they teach.
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00:00The Welsh Government have had plans to increase the number of Welsh speakers in Wales to a
00:09million by the year 2020-50 for some time, and the latest build to help push on those
00:14targets has passed a crucial stage in the Senedd and could soon become law.
00:18The new law would aim to get more young people learning Welsh in schools across Wales and
00:23categorise schools by the amount of Welsh that's taught per week, sorting them into
00:27groups such as Welsh Medium, primarily English, partly Welsh, etc.
00:33Amendments were made to the law, including additional help for English language parents to assist
00:38their Welsh Medium children in homework, but some Welsh language campaigners have said
00:43that the law does not go far enough.
00:48Plaid Cymru wanted half of all schools to be primarily Welsh by 2050, and instead the law
00:53will now aim for 40% of schools.
00:55The Welsh Language Society have called for all schools across the country to be taught
00:59via Welsh, and said they were disappointed politicians did not pursue those goals, with
01:04a spokesperson saying the majority of children across Wales were being deprived of the opportunity
01:09to learn Welsh through the education system.
01:14The Government's Million Speakers by 2050 plan is ambitious and has underlined many Welsh language-based
01:19decisions in recent years, but as far as the most recent figures in January this year show
01:24the lowest number of Welsh speakers in Wales in eight years.
01:29Over 800,000 people over the age of three across Wales currently speak Welsh, but there is certainly
01:34a long way to go if that million speakers target is to be reached.
01:38James Peach Watkins, reported for Local TV, and Cardiff Bay.
01:40James Peach Watkins, reported for Local TV, and Cardiff Bay.