Schoolchildren at a Dublin Gaelscoil marked St David’s Day, the Welsh national holiday, on Wednesday by participating in an innovative language-learning programme as part of an international initiative to promote the Welsh language.
Children at Gaelscoil Thaobh na Coille in Belarmine, South Dublin, learned Welsh phrases, they learned how to count to 20 in Welsh and took part in a Twmpath, a Welsh version of the Irish céilí.
Wales’ minister for education and Welsh language, Jeremy Miles, and Siân Lewis, chief executive of Welsh national youth organisation Urdd Gobaith Cymru, launched the Chwarae yn Gymraeg (Ag imirt sa Bhreatnais or Playing in Welsh) programme at Taobh na Coille to coincide with St David’s Day. St David is the patron saint of Wales.
The programme, which is part of a wider Welsh government strategy aiming to increase the numbers of Welsh speakers to one million over the next three decades, has education at its core.
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Welsh government statistics show that 24 per cent of all primary age learners in Wales attend Welsh-medium or bilingual primary schools, while 20 per cent of all secondary age learners in Wales are in Welsh-medium or bilingual secondary schools.
In Ireland, Irish-medium primary schools account for 8.1 per cent of the country’s primary schools while 3.6 per cent of the country’s second-level schools are Irish-medium.
To fulfil its strategy, the Welsh government acknowledges the need to increase the numbers of Welsh learners in English-medium schools.
“Cymraeg 2050 is our plan to double daily use of Welsh and increasing the number of Welsh speakers by 2050,” Mr Miles said.
“Welsh-medium immersion education is our principal method for ensuring that children can develop their Welsh language skills, and for creating new speakers.”
“We want all our learners to have the opportunity to be bilingual. In Wales, in order to reach a million speakers, we will need to increase the number of learners in English-medium schools that succeed in acquiring the language,” he said.
“However, with plans to expand this to the world, launching this programme in an Irish language school is of significant importance,” he added.
Youth organisation Urdd Gobaith Cymru, which developed the Chwarae yn Gymraeg programme, has been appointed as an official partner by the Welsh Government and it plays an active role in the delivery of the government’s language strategy.
Ms Lewis said “Education is the key to increasing the numbers of people fluent in the Welsh language. If we want to make it a living language we have to make sure there are opportunities to engage with it outside the classroom.”
“This is our first school in Ireland and with the great success that we’ve had over the last few days our ambition is to build on that success and bring Chwarae yn Gymraeg across Ireland,” she said.
The programme was first launched in Doha during the Fifa World Cup late last year.
“We piloted it when we were out with the Welsh football team at the World Cup in Qatar recently. We delivered the programme in schools in Doha and also in Dubai and we saw it as a great way of sharing our language and talking about our culture to an new audience,” Ms Lewis said.
Ms Lewis said the aim is to “embed that positive use of the language in a natural environment with their friends engaging in activities they enjoy.”
Ms Lewis sees the programme as one way to foster use of the language outside of the traditional school setting.
“For the language to thrive people have to use it outside the education system,” she said.
“There are creative ways we can engage with children and young people outside the classroom.”
“When children and young people get together and realise that they speak a minority language they take ownership of the language, and that pride of being a Welsh speaker and an Irish speaker, is amplified,” she said.
