The Celtic Tongue Strengthens in English Language Stronghold - Work begins on Newport's Welsh Medium Secondary School

According to the statistics published by the Welsh Government, the area covered by the local authority of Newport has a population of about 140,000 with 22%, or approximately 30,000 residents claiming fluency in the Celtic tongue. Newport is situated at the eastern edge of the Cardiff-Newport metropolitan area which has a total population exceeding 1.1 million.  

This is the city that infamously claimed in April 2013 that it was unable to comply with Welsh language guidelines under  the Welsh Language Act of 1993 because it could not find enough Welsh speakers to fill poitions mandated by the statute. This was the feeble response to the Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws launch of an investigation into the proposed standards for the provision of Welsh language services by local Council authorities.  Newport Council pleaded non-compliance because not enough qualified Welsh speakers could be found to fill the positions required to deliver Welsh language services from the Council. The 1993 Act governs how Welsh-speaking citizens receive public services in the language of their choice.      

Let's hope Newport Council will in future succeed in rooting out enough Wesh speakers in need of a good job so as to comply with Welsh language law.                  

Meanwhile language activists “The Parents for Welsh-Medium Education” (RhAG) have been working with allies to successfully press for the opening of Newport’s first Welsh Medium secondary school. The Welsh tongue has suffered in the area around Newport due to its proximity to the English border. In fact, in the recent past there were moves to annex this part of Wales to England, which makes the opening of its first Welsh-medium Secondary School so significant. The establishment of the Welsh language secondary school is a victory for the RhAG and strengthens the Celtic tongue and Celtic culture on its border with the Anglo-Saxon world.

As reported in the South Wales Argus (linked below): “A Ceremony to mark the official start of work on Newport’s first Welsh language secondary school, Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed, took place yesterday. The Welsh medium secondary school will allow graduates of the area’s Welsh medium primary schools the opportunity to continue their education in the language of their choice. The school, which is set to open in September 2018, will deliver up to 900 school places in future years to meet growing demand for Welsh medium secondary education in the area.”

In future the expectation is that the Newport Council will be able to recruit all the Welsh speakers it needs to comply with the laws of the Welsh Nation. The opening of the Welsh medium secondary school in Newport is a victory for the Welsh language and a harbinger of future success of efforts restore the Celtic Tongue of Wales to its rightful place. 

All in all, a tribute to Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws, the champion of the Welsh tongue.

 

http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/14620633.Work_begins_on_Newport_s_Welsh_language_secondary_school/

 http://www.transceltic.com/blog/victory-welsh-medium-education-secondary-school-open-newport

http://www.transceltic.com/blog/newport-city-council-defies-reason-and-logic-claims-welsh-speakers-cannot-be-found-provide

 

 

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