§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) primary schoolchildren and (b) secondary school students attend Welsh-medium schools, or units, in each local education authority area in Wales; what proportion of the total they represent in each case; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1977.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe information is not readily available, and I shall reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what proportion of schoolchildren (a) entering secondary education and (b) leaving secondary education in each local education authority area in Wales in each year since 1977 were (i) fluent in the Welsh language, (ii) had some working knowledge of the Welsh language but were not fluent or (iii) had little or no knowledge of the Welsh language.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsInformation in the form requested is not available. Figures given in the following tables show, however, the numbers and percentages of pupils in their final year of primary school who were assessed by headteachers as being fluent in Welsh.
451W
Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan 1978: Category A 365 1,131 5 1,554 36 102 91 188 Category B 474 522 23 692 348 122 55 144 Category C 5,324 3,162 7,215 1,150 8,348 1,328 5,624 5,231 1979: Category A 314 1,115 5 1,611 36 114 97 163 Category B 390 633 18 798 366 76 60 154 Category C 5,716 3,086 7,166 1,095 8,479 1,466 5,566 5,117 1980: Category A 318 1,110 — 1,557 52 107 83 190 Category B 371 661 40 756 399 73 91 183 Category C 5,504 3,066 6,669 1,078 8,050 1,372 5,280 4,698 1981: Category A 341 1,077 39 1,631 37 117 73 171 Category B 368 644 40 842 469 110 151 275 Category C 5,585 3,107 6,983 1,119 8,325 1,404 5,445 4,889 1982: Category A 322 999 3 1,487 49 103 78 184 Category B 397 641 33 769 456 73 88 138 Category C 5,224 2,852 6,461 1,052 7,749 1,386 4,996 4,596 1983: Category A 277 962 2 1,397 53 86 116 201 Category B 423 694 40 905 484 94 62 146 Category C 4,749 2,682 5,866 881 7,157 1,301 4,744 4,296 1984: Category A 216 884 3 1,266 60 88 48 145 Category B 416 652 46 868 461 97 87 143 Category C 4,496 2,524 5,567 854 6,661 1,294 4,647 4,158 1985: Category A 231 827 1 1,183 40 103 45 116 Category B 464 803 48 949 510 86 111 121 Category C 4,216 2,320 5,340 657 6,362 1,186 4,274 4,103 1 Category A = pupils whose home language is Welsh. 2 Category B = pupils whose home language is not Welsh but who can speak Welsh with fluency. 3 Category C = pupils who do not speak Welsh fluently or cannot speak Welsh at all. Note:
These figures are derived from assessments of fluency made by headteachers.
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Percentage of pupils aged 10 and over in maintained primary schools Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan 1977 Category A1 5.9 24.3 0.1 47.1 0.6 6.4 0.9 3.2 Category B2 5.7 9.9 0.2 17.4 3.9 6.3 1.0 2.7 Category C3 88.4 65.8 99.7 34.9 95.5 87.3 98.1 94.1 1978 Category A 5.9 23.5 0.1 45.7 0.4 6.6 1.6 3.4 Category B 7.7 10.8 0.3 25.4 4.0 7.8 0.9 2.6 Category C 86.4 65.7 99.6 28.9 95.6 85.6 97.5 94.0 1979 Category A 4.9 23.1 0.1 46.0 0.4 6.9 1.7 3.0 Category B 6.1 13.1 0.2 22.8 4.1 4.6 1.0 2.8 Category C 89.0 63.8 99.7 31.2 95.5 88.5 97.3 94.2 1980 Category A 5.1 22.9 — 45.9 0.6 6.9 1.5 3.7 Category B 6.0 13.7 0.6 22.3 4.7 4.7 1.7 3.7 Category C 88.9 63.4 99.4 31.8 94.7 88.4 96.8 92.6 1981 Category A 5.4 22.3 0.5 45.4 0.4 7.2 1.3 3.2 Category B 5.9 13.3 0.6 23.4 5.3 6.7 2.7 5.2 Category C 88.7 64.4 98.9 31.2 94.3 86.1 960 91.6
Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan 1982 Category A 5.4 22.2 0.1 45.0 0.6 6.6 1.5 3.7 Category B 6.7 14.3 0.5 23.2 5.5 4.7 1.7 2.8 Category C 87.9 63.5 99.4 31.8 93.9 88.7 96.8 93.5 1983 Category A 5.1 22.2 — 43.9 0.7 5.8 2.4 4.3 Category B 7.7 16.0 0.7 28.4 6.3 6.4 1.2 3.2 Category C 87.2 61.8 99.3 27.7 93.0 87.8 96.4 92.5 1984 Category A 4.2 21.8 0.1 42.4 0.9 5.9 1.0 3.3 Category B 8.1 16.0 0.8 29.0 6.4 6.6 1.8 3.2 Category C 87.7 62.2 99.1 28.6 92.7 87.5 97.2 93.5 1985 Category A 4.7 21.0 — 42.4 0.6 7.5 1.0 2.7 Category B 9.5 20.3 0.9 34.0 7.4 6.2 2.5 2.8 Category C 85.8 58.7 99.1 23.6 92.0 86.3 96.5 94.5 1 Category A = pupils whose home language is Welsh. 2 Category B = pupils whose home language is not Welsh but who can speak Welsh with fluency. 3 Category C = pupils who do not speak Welsh fluently or cannot speak Welsh at all. Note:
These figures are derived from assessments of fluency made by headteachers.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to be able to make a statement on the funding of the new Welsh language education development committee of the Welsh Joint Education Council.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsI have told the Welsh Joint Education Committee that the Government are prepared to meet the necessary administrative expenses of the new Welsh Language Education Development Committee.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will outline in detail the proposed work of the new Welsh language education development committee of the Welsh Joint Education Council.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsMy right hon. Friend has said that he looks to the new Committee to provide a forum for discussion of policy by those responsible for the provision of Welsh medium education; to co-ordinate activities in Welsh language education, thereby ensuring the best and most economical use of available resources; to disseminate information; and to identify areas for further research and development. It will be for the Committee itself to consider in detail the work necessary for it to discharge this role.