In July last year, the devolved Welsh government published Cymraeg. It belongs to us all, its strategy on the internal use of the Welsh language, one of whose aims is to have one million Welsh speakers in the country by 2050.
As part of the strategy to achieve that goal, 2 announcements have been made in recent days.
In the first instance, the Daily Post has reported that a basic command of Welsh – a so-called courtesy level – will be required for all Welsh government jobs.
In future employees Workers will have to demonstrate language skills that include the ability to:
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- pronounce Welsh language words, names, place names and terms;
- answer the telephone bilingually, greet people or make introductions bilingually;
- understand and use everyday expressions and simple key words related to the workplace;
- read and understand short texts providing basic information, e.g. in correspondence, or to interpret the content using available technology; and
- demonstrate language awareness, including an appreciation of the importance of the language in society and an awareness of what is required to provide bilingual customer [sic] service.
Needless to say, there has been criticism, with Tory AS/MS Tom Giffard leading the charge (no doubt with the encouragement of his controllers at CCHQ in London SW1. Ed.) and claiming: “The Welsh Government is becoming a closed shop”.
In the second instance, the Daily Post further reports that 30% of children in Year 1 are be in Welsh-medium education by 2031, compared with 23% last year.
This will entail the opening of a minimum of 60 extra Welsh-medium nursery groups by 2026, in addition to the 40 opened over the past 4 years.