PROPOSALS are being put forward to teach through the medium of Welsh at primary schools in St Clears and Whitland.

The schools – Ysgol Llys Hywel and Ysgol Griffith Jones – are amongst five in Carmarthenshire that the county council want to be primarily Welsh-language.

Teaching is currently dual stream – through the medium of both English and Welsh.

Under the plans, which are currently out for consultation, the language used in the schools’ foundation classes will change to Welsh medium, with the choice of English language medium being introduced at Key Stage 2.

Consultation will run until June 30, with open consultation drop-in sessions at Ysgol Llys Hywel on Tuesday, June 4, between 5pm and 7pm and at Ysgol Griffith Jones on Thursday June 6, from 5pm-7pm.

Both will offer opportunities for questions and discussions with council education officers.

The proposals are in line with the authority’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan, and its vision for a bilingual Carmarthenshire, as well as Welsh Government objectives to grow the number of Welsh speakers to one million by 2050.

Carmarthenshire County Council aims for all pupils to speak, read and write fluently in both Welsh and English by the end of Key Stage 2.

The authority’s executive board member for education and children’s services, Councillor Glynog Davies, said: “The consultation is a very important part of the process.

“It is an opportunity for people to give their opinion and for us to hear what they have got to say.

“We will listen to the schools, the parents and anyone else who takes an interest.

“We want to move forward together, and that’s essential and important to the success of this plan.

“2050 sounds very far away, but the process has to start now – we cannot waste time.”