The Education Workforce Council (EWC) has provided feedback to Welsh Government’s consultation on proposals for a Welsh Language Education Bill.

The consultation offered the public and key stakeholders the opportunity to have their say on Welsh Government’s proposals for a Bill which aims to take steps to enable all pupils in Wales to become confident Welsh speakers through the statutory education system.

In its response, the EWC largely welcomed the proposals, and citing data from the Register of Education Practitioners and the most recent Education Workforce Survey (2021) noted:

• that to achieve the target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050, a significant increase in the Welsh language capacity of the school workforce would be necessary (acknowledging the work already underway, led by Welsh Government and involving a wide range of stakeholders)
• that in addition to recruiting new Welsh speaking teachers, an enhanced programme of professional learning would also be required to develop the Welsh language skills of the existing workforce
• that it would be important to understand the implications of the policy in relation to workload and as such, the EWC asks this is taken into account at all stages of the policy making process.

The EWC is already leading the development and implementation of a strategic approach to the recruitment and promotion of careers in education in Wales (on behalf of Welsh Government). One of the priorities set for this work is contributing to increasing recruitment of Welsh-medium educators. The organisation has also been identified within the Welsh in Education Workforce Plan as having a number of roles to play in this area.

You can read the EWC’s consultation response in full on the EWC website.