, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 9
And in some council chambers, you have to do it.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 9
Thank you, that's very helpful.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 9
Thank you, Chair. Can I just check, in terms of the position of local authorities, my reading of your evidence is you’re supportive of the aims and objectives of the Bill, but the concern comes about the practical delivery of it, including resources…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Education funding
The subject of today's debate reinforces the importance of education for the future of our country, but also will highlight the brutal reality of the last 14 years of austerity. Despite this, in Wales we have a track record to be proud of when it comes to…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you for your answer, First Minister. I welcome your focus on speeding up planning decisions to help grow the economy. This is an area where we have to do better in Wales—of course, you have experience from the private sector in this regard. Three weeks…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
1. Will the First Minister provide an update on her priority to speed up planning decisions to help grow the Welsh economy? OQ61649
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 8
I'll stop there, Chair, because I know you have other questions to get through.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 8
Okay. Thank you. There's—
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 8
It's interesting, because the point around someone who would be described as not having Welsh language skills, and you made the point around the pre-acquisition stage, about whether in a school setting—. Because there will be some pupils who will, for…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 8
So, CEFR is designed for additional languages. And there is a question about whether it's an appropriate tool for people who come from Welsh-speaking homes or a wider education environment, as opposed to learning it as an additional language. I just want to…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 8
Diolch, Gadeirydd. Thank you. I want to move into the questions that you may have seen I've asked other witnesses before about the use of the common European framework of reference for languages, or CEFR. There's, I guess, a couple of different parts to this…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
I'll stop there, Chair, because I know we have lots of questions to get through, and I perhaps took up too much time in the previous section.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
So, we’re regularly asking people what the level or the threshold is for someone to be a Welsh speaker. And the challenge is that sometimes this can be loaded in a way that isn’t helpful, I think, for people who want to be able to go out and use the Welsh…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
I wanted to move into the next point, which is that we’ve had evidence from other people about whether this is an appropriate framework for people who have either gone through the whole Welsh-medium system or, indeed, whether it's appropriate for people who…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Okay. Can I check if there is a different view from NASUWT? Because I want to come back onto some of the other points made around whether it's an appropriate framework for the Welsh-medium sector.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Right.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
So, do you think that will impact on the wider curriculum then? Is that, essentially, what your evidence is? Just so we understand. I don't want to put words in your mouth. We want to understand if you think it would or it wouldn't.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Thank you, Chair. I want to go back to the common European framework of reference for languages. We'll call it 'CEFR'; it'll make it much easier and shorter. The Bill suggests using this as the measuring tool, as it were, for the language acquisition acquired…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
Well, I certainly hear more Welsh in schools compared to when I first got elected. As a local Member, going around, I definitely hear more Welsh in primary and secondary schools now, compared to 2011. That is absolutely my experience. But that's a different…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
Just in terms of the discussion we're having now, it seems like it's not a lot to do with the Bill. There's a broader discussion about why people do not want to be teachers, and there are pressures outside what the Government does and about what people face…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
I think you've answered the last question, which is about CEFR not providing a description of people with no level of Welsh ability, so I don't think I need to ask that question. There are others that we could follow up in writing, Chair.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
We haven't had many heads who don't have a view, as I regularly find out in private meetings in their schools.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
I guess it's just a point that comes back to the differing levels of proficiency and ability. So, we have this difficult question about what is a Welsh speaker. Is a basic user a Welsh speaker or do you need to be a proficient user? I'm interested in your…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
Okay. So, can I just stick with the question about that, because I know you organise in the Welsh-medium sector as well? So, when you have pupils coming through the Welsh-medium sector, whether you think this framework is still appropriate, and the levels it…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
So, that's quite interesting. That comes into some of the other follow-up questions. In line with what we heard last week, Cymdeithas yr Iaith were very clear that they thought that the framework itself wasn't appropriate. That was partly because their view…
