Abstract

Over seventy-five years have passed since the first Welsh-medium primary school was established in Aberystwyth in 1939, but it was not until 2010 that a national strategy was published for planning the development of Welsh-medium education in a logical and meaningful manner to meet parents' demands. Over the past seventy-five years, Welsh-medium education has flourished and developed across Wales, with an increasing number of children from non-Welsh-speaking backgrounds benefiting from the provision alongside children from Welsh-speaking homes. In briefly considering the main milestones in the history of Welsh-medium education – gained mainly thanks to the determination and leadership of parents and grass-roots movements – this article will trace the steps that ultimately led to creating the Welsh Government's Welsh-medium Education Strategy in 2010. The achievements to date will be evaluated in the context of the strategic aims that form the basis of the Strategy and an attempt made to identify some of the main challenges facing those who continue to campaign for Welsh-medium education today as they set about transforming the national strategic objectives into practical action to meet the requirements of twenty-first-century bilingual learners.

How to Cite:

Lewis, W. G., (2016) “'Byw yng Nghymru: dysgu yn Gymraeg?' – addysg Gymraeg ddoe, heddiw ac yfory”, Wales Journal of Education 18(1), 111-130.