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Max/Min (Day)


Calum Higgins: 'We must listen to criticism'


C A RMA RT H E N S H I R E


COUNTY COUNCIL has approved a proposal to switch Llangennech School from dual-stream education to Welsh- medium education. In an, at times, bitter debate, there


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was stark division along political lines with many Labour members supporting the idea of increasing Welsh language education in principle, but objecting to it in practice and in the particular case of Llangennech. Strong feelings were evident from the outset in the Council Chamber.


16 QUESTIONS AND 95% 16 questions were on the order


paper from those claiming to represent Llangennech village, both from parents with children at the school and from those with a more electorally motivated eye on the outcome of the day’s debate. 95% was the key figure bandied


around. The campaigners objecting to the


switch from dual-stream to Welsh- medium education claimed that their own audit of the responses received by the local authority to the consultation revealed that 95% of verified responses from within Llangennech itself opposed the change of language category. If true, that would indicate that there


was significant discontent within the village, but as The Herald has previously reported, barely any of the objections received raised either a valid or pertinent issue under the statutory grounds covered by the consultation process. Throughout repeated questioning


while the Llangennech plan made tortuous progress through the council, former Director of Education Rob Sully had been at pains to point out that it was the statutory code that needed to be addressed, as opposed to grievances which the statutory code did not – and was not intended to – address. That did not matter, however, as the


16 questions repeated – sometimes at considerable length – essentially the same observations and issues raised before. Some of the questioners claimed


never to have had answers to their questions. However, one question about pupils


with Additional Learning Needs had been both asked and answered on at least one previous occasion. In response, Gareth Jones, Executive Board member for Education, pointed out – again – that additional learning needs assessments relating to ALN pupils could not be carried out until the language category of the school was determined. If they were carried out before the council voted on the school’s


Not wearing party political hats: Cllrs Tegwen Devichand and Sharen Davies


language category, he could have - and probably would have - been accused of predetermination of the main issue. A further claim, also made previously,


was that a parent did not know how their children were schooled at Llangennech, despite them having attended the school for two years. Whether the fault for that lies at the door of the local authority is a moot point. The suggestion was that Welsh-medium education had been introduced by stealth. Bearing in mind the timescale concerned, and if the allegation were true, that must have a policy put in place under the previous administration and by the same councillors now eager to support the objectors in their cause. Most of the questioners, however,


repeated the unverified 95% claim, for which neither the methodology nor means of calculation were before the council.


LABOUR RESPOND TO THEIR OWN POLICY


Despite not having the means to


independently verify the claims made in relation to the consultation responses, Labour members appeared to accept them wholeheartedly as evidence that the council was not listening to the villagers of Llangennech. In the teeth of the answers delivered on a number of occasions to questions that have varied little or at all – with answers to match – for the last 12 months, Labour members expressed concern that answers were not being given. While some Labour members


played to May’s electorate by blaming everything on Plaid Cymru, more nimble and acute Labour members shifted the ground on to a more general level and suggested that they accepted the need for change, but just not yet. However, the debate was approached, there was considerable rancour. Cllr Kim Thomas repeated the


incendiary charge that the proposals amounted to ‘apartheid’, a theme developed in rather more coded language by speakers such as Llanelli grand- dame Tegwen Devichand who spoke of ‘cultural division’ and asked for councillors to follow their hearts, not wear their political hats. Cllr Devichand aimed a calculated


swipe at others, including her Labour colleague Calum Higgins (Tycroes), who had raised their personal experiences of the benefits of bilingualism and a bilingual education and made it clear that she did not want to raise her personal experiences and those of her family but to represent the people. Towards the end of the debate, Cllr


Sharen Davies, speaking next to her mother. told the Chamber that it was her experience that Welsh-medium education was not for everyone. She had tried it and she knew. Her parents had sent her to a Welsh-medium school, where she struggled. Cllr Devichand nodded alongside her. Her brother had thrived and become a consultant, Sharen Davies said, but she had to enter English-medium education in an attempt to avail herself of educational opportunities. She ascribed her academic struggles to not going into English-medium education from the outset. Quite what conclusion listeners were


supposed to draw from Cllr Davies’ homily was hard to tell, particularly in light of Cllr Devichand’s words, although she did not suggest that pupils also struggled in English-medium education.


CLLR MORGAN MAKES HIS POINT


A far more telling and pertinent


contribution came from Cllr Giles Morgan (Independent) who suggested that the extent to which the council had failed to satisfy parents or allay their fears regarding Welsh-medium education was self-evident from the questions still being asked and the concerns still being raised. In addition, Cllr Morgan advanced the idea that what should be done at this point was to delay any final decision until after further talks had been conducted between the council and villagers from Llangennech. Cllr Morgan observed mordantly that


what was being discussed was ‘policy’ and policy changed from week to week, not least (he said to laughter) when it came to planning. Had those councillors following him


not already prepared their speeches and not wanted to waste them, there was surely a point which could have been developed and endorsed by subsequent speakers. Instead, Cllr Morgan’s suggestion was ignored until near the very end of the meeting, when it was raised by Chief Executive Mark James as a motion made to which there had been no seconder. Cllr Terry Davies told the Chamber


that while he knew where he would be after May’s election (retired), he wondered how many of those supporting the proposal could say the same. He offered the opinion that the council wanted people to do as it said and not as it did in relation to the Welsh language, as most councillors spoke English to each other whether or not they could speak Welsh. The conflation of the status of the


THE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 20 2017


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Llangennech school


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