£46m for new schools and language centres in Wales

The Welsh Government has announced £46m to support the growth in Welsh medium education.

The boost to the Welsh Medium Capital Grant and Childcare Offer Capital Grant will support some 41 projects across 16 local authorities and create an additional 2818 school and childcare places for Welsh medium learners.

This is in addition to the £5 million for the Pantycelyn development announced earlier this year, making a total of £ 51 million to support Welsh education.

Amongst the new schools are Welsh medium primaries in Merthyr Tydfil and Torfaen, the first ever Welsh medium school in Monmouth town, and an innovative Welsh language centre in Denbighshire.

Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning, Eluned Morgan said: “These projects will make a significant contribution to the provision of Welsh medium education. Having a comfortable, modern, fit-for-purpose environment in which to learn is vital to ensuring young people have the best possible education. This extra funding will mean that even more of our students will be able to benefit from excellent facilities to learn through the medium of Welsh.

“In addition to creating new schools and expanding current sites, this extra funding will give the green light to Welsh language centres across Wales. These centres make learning Welsh as a second language much more accessible and that’s vital if the language is to continue to grow and thrive.

“Our challenge of reaching a million Welsh speakers by 2050 is a significant challenge and education is key to our success. By investing in new Welsh medium schools and improving and increasing the teaching of Welsh in English medium schools we are paving the way for the future and laying the right foundations to reach this target.”

Minister for Children, Huw Irranca-Davies said: “Providing early opportunities for Welsh learning is vital if we are to increase the number of Welsh speakers, and I’m pleased today’s funding announcement will also go towards increasing the number of childcare places for Welsh medium learners.

“By working together across government and combining funding from both the Welsh Medium Capital and Childcare Offer Capital Grants we have been able to get better return on investment, resulting in better services for young people.”