Wales: More speaking Welsh at school but not at home

[Harold Schiffman]

More speaking Welsh at school but not at home

Dec 7 2007 by Abbie Wightwick, Western Mail

INCREASING numbers of pupils are speaking Welsh at school yet more
than half still cannot speak the language and numbers speaking it at
home have fallen. However, school statistics released yesterday show
more pupils are being taught in Welsh- medium schools and more are
learning Welsh as a second language. Numbers of pupils aged five and
above speaking Welsh at home fell from 14,827 in 1991 to 13,595 in
2001. Numbers who don't speak Welsh at home but can speak the language
fluently rose from 15,181 to 22,948 in the same period, showing how
important schools are in keeping the language alive.

Numbers speaking Welsh, but not fluently, doubled from 30,753 to
67,969 in the same period. Pupils learning only or mainly in Welsh
rose from 38,404 in 1990 to 53,342 in the 2006-07 school year. In 1990
more than 62,000 schoolchildren learned no Welsh compared to just 707
last year. But six in 10 primary pupils and more than half of all
secondary pupils still cannot speak Welsh. A further 30% say they
speak the language but not fluently. Numbers of Welsh-medium primary
teachers have grown to meet demand in schools from 327 in 200 to 722
now. Since 1990 an extra 21 Welsh-medium primaries have opened. There
are now 466 primaries teaching more than 54,000 children. Numbers of
Welsh-medium secondary schools have also increased from 44 in 1990 to
54 now. They are teaching 40,702 pupils compared to 27,897 in 1990.

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2007/12/07/more-speaking-welsh-at-school-but-not-at-home-91466-20215553/

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