Given the current furore in Gwynedd, I am pleased to see that the Welsh Conservatives have called for the introduction of community and Welsh language impact assessments before a decision is taken to close schools in Wales.
The strategy recognises that closing a school, especially in a rural community, has implications on the whole community.
When a school closes that decision is taken by the minister for purely educational reasons, but in reality the decision has implications for the whole community. For some children the closure of their school means they have to attend a new one in a far more Anglicised area.
Carrying out community and Welsh language impact assessments at the time of a proposed closure would mean this would be fully considered before any action was taken. In some communities, especially in rural areas, the closure of a school can have a huge impact on how much Welsh children are then exposed to.
This should be thoroughly welcomed across rural Wales as a positive policy which takes into account the community, cultural and linguistic role played by schools across our nation.
The strategy recognises that closing a school, especially in a rural community, has implications on the whole community.
When a school closes that decision is taken by the minister for purely educational reasons, but in reality the decision has implications for the whole community. For some children the closure of their school means they have to attend a new one in a far more Anglicised area.
Carrying out community and Welsh language impact assessments at the time of a proposed closure would mean this would be fully considered before any action was taken. In some communities, especially in rural areas, the closure of a school can have a huge impact on how much Welsh children are then exposed to.
This should be thoroughly welcomed across rural Wales as a positive policy which takes into account the community, cultural and linguistic role played by schools across our nation.
Comments
Of course, the reason that there is little evidence of this effect is that there have never been school closures on this scale within rural Wales before, and certainly not within “Y Fro Gymraeg”.
I sympathise with your viewpoint as a former WLGA Education spokesperson over this matter but the situation in Gwynedd is somewhat different to what has happened previously as we are discussing not only educational priorities but those of the local culture and that of the welsh language.
As a native of the Llyn Peninsula, I can tell you quite categorically that small village primary schools are not only an educational necessity but are ones that sustain a unique cultural heritage through their everyday activities. In many respects, these teachers within these schools are the saviours of the welsh language far more than any quango or Assembly committee in Cardiff Bay.
The same councillors who made a decision to stop a marina development in Pwllheli because of the threat to the welsh language are, paradoxically, happy to close the very centres which maintain the language and, more than anything else, help to ensure that the children of incomers to the area become active bilingual participants in the local community and its culture.
Of course, as you say, local democracy should be supported in this issue and the electorate of Gwynedd will be given the opportunity to pass their judgement on the current policies in just over two months time.
Then, the people will have spoken over this matter, one way or the other.