DWLP07

Pwyllgor Diwylliant, Cyfathrebu, y Gymraeg, Chwaraeon, a Chysylltiadau Rhyngwladol | Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee

The Centre received additional funding in April 2022 to extend its provision to young people aged 16-25 years. This project succeeded in attracting 1,150 young people during 2022-23 and 2,593 young people during 2023-24. A variety of new partnerships and projects were developed, including Further Education Colleges, the Duke of Edinburgh and Schools. The emphasis of all these opportunities is on developing the skills and confidence to speak Welsh.

This project was outside the Centre’s usual remit. The Centre now provides Welsh language learning services to a range of audiences, including learners in the community, in the workplace, families etc. The demand for Welsh learning services is high, and has increased over the years. We’re teaching more people than ever before, but the challenge is to continue responding to the demand without an increase in funding. The Centre’s data for 2022-23 shows a 11% increase in the number of learners, with the number of young learners 9% higher than the previous year. This is the type of growth possible with financial investment.

We are working innovatively and creatively, and have introduced a new range of opportunities for learning Welsh, including virtual learning and self-teaching. A high number of digital resources is also available to support the learning process. The purpose of this is to encourage more people to learn Welsh and of course, an increase in demand and the number of learners is something to celebrate but the challenge for the Centre is the ability to extend its services to increasing audiences, and to continue increasing the number of Welsh learners.

The Welsh Government’s decision to reprioritise the additional allocation for the Centre for 2024-25 means that we are unable to further extend the project but we are able to aim to maintain the current level of provision.

The post-16 audience is so important, and the Centre knows that we are able to encourage young people to learn Welsh. Our plans include a number of partnerships which enable young people to learn Welsh side by side or as part of their training. For example, apprenticeship schemes where 120 hours of Welsh learning (equivalent to one whole level) have been incorporated into the course. We have also held a successful pilot with Further Education Colleges where 400 young people received Welsh lessons specifically relating to their vocational studies. We also have schemes in place with Universities to incorporate elements of Welsh learning into post-graduate courses. That includes Initial Teacher Training and a Childhood Studies Degree Course. All this has been possible due to the additional funding received in order to extend our services to young people.

The demand for Welsh learning services is high, and the number of Welsh learners has increased since the establishment of the Centre. The number of post-16 young people learning Welsh is high since the Centre received additional funding to provide services to this audience. This proves that, with investment, the Centre can make a substantial contribution to the Cymraeg 2050 targets.