Headteachers in Wales are facing a significant challenge in meeting Welsh Government targets for teaching more subjects in Welsh due to a severe shortage of Welsh-speaking teachers. The shortage, particularly in science subjects, has been described as being as rare as “hen’s teeth” by headteachers who recently voiced their concerns at a Senedd committee hearing.
According to NAHT Cymru, schools are struggling to recruit the staff needed to deliver the Welsh Language Bill effectively. Claire Armistead, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru and former headteacher of Rhyl High School, highlighted the critical shortage of Welsh-speaking physics teachers, emphasising the lack of capacity to meet the proposed targets in the Bill.
Headteachers, including Julian Kennedy from Olchfa School in Swansea and Chris Parry from Lewis School Pengam, expressed their worries about the insufficient pool of Welsh-speaking teachers to support the Government’s aims in the Bill. The Welsh Language and Education Bill aims to have one million Welsh speakers by 2050 and ensure all pupils can speak Welsh upon leaving school.
After a recent committee meeting, Laura Doel, national secretary at NAHT Cymru, noted concerns about the funding and capacity required to provide necessary language training. She stressed the importance of addressing existing challenges in numeracy and literacy, calling for a comprehensive assessment of the impact of new legislation on schools’ workload.
Despite supporting the aspirations of the Bill, education unions have raised doubts about the Welsh Government’s readiness to provide the funding necessary for its implementation. Ms. Doel highlighted the absence of a tool to assess the workload impact of new legislation on schools, a condition that was supposed to be met following last year’s strike actions.
In response, a Welsh Government spokesperson acknowledged the significance of having an adequate education workforce to support the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill. The government’s approach includes national and local efforts to increase the number of Welsh-speaking teachers through the Welsh in Education Workforce Plan.
Overall, the concerns raised by headteachers and education unions in Wales underscore the challenges faced by schools in meeting Welsh language teaching targets. The call for adequate funding, workforce capacity, and workload assessment remains crucial in ensuring the effective implementation of the Welsh Language and Education Bill.