Editing Welsh language (section)

===In education===
{{Main|Welsh medium education}}
[[File:Welshclass.jpg|thumb|Welsh language as the medium of instruction]]

The decade around 1840 was a period of great social upheaval in Wales, manifested in the [[Chartism|Chartist]] movement. In 1839, 20,000 people marched on [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], resulting in a riot when 20 people were killed by soldiers defending the Westgate Hotel, and the [[Rebecca Riots]] where [[Toll road|tollbooth]]s on [[Toll road|turnpikes]] were systematically destroyed.

This unrest brought the state of education in Wales to the attention of the British government since social reformers of the time considered education as a means of dealing with social ills. ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper was prominent among those who considered that the lack of education of the Welsh people was the root cause of most of the problems.

In July 1846, three commissioners, [[Ralph Lingen, 1st Baron Lingen|R.R.W. Lingen]], Jellynger C. Symons and H.R. Vaughan Johnson, were appointed to inquire into the state of education in Wales; the Commissioners were all [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] and thus presumed unsympathetic to the [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]] majority in Wales. The Commissioners presented [[Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales|their report]] to the Government on 1 July 1847 in three large blue-bound volumes. This report quickly became known in Wales as the {{lang|cy|Brad y Llyfrau Gleision}} (''Treason of the Blue Books'') since,<ref>{{cite news |title='Treacherous' Blue Books online |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/4555702.stm |work=[[BBC News]]  |date=2005-12-23 |access-date=2017-01-21 |df=dmy-all |quote=A 19th Century report that became controversial for condemning the Welsh language has been published online by the National Library of Wales. The government report about Welsh education in 1847 was dubbed the Treachery of the Blue Books ({{lang|cy|Brad y Llyfrau Gleision}}).}}</ref> apart from documenting the state of education in Wales, the Commissioners were also free with their comments disparaging the language, [[nonconformity in Wales|nonconformity]], and the morals of the Welsh people in general. An immediate effect of the report was that ordinary Welsh people began to believe that the only way to get on in the world was through the medium of English, and an inferiority complex developed about the Welsh language whose effects have not yet been completely eradicated. The historian Professor [[Kenneth O. Morgan]] referred to the significance of the report and its consequences as "the [[Massacre of Glencoe|Glencoe]] and the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|Amritsar]] of Welsh history".<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |title=A History of Wales |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19ThaoZRcqEC|year=1993 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=978-0-14-014581-6 |oclc= 925144917}}</ref>

In the later 19th century, the teaching of English in Welsh schools was generally supported by the Welsh public and parents who saw it as the language of economic advancement.<ref name="jones_social_15">{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Gareth Elwyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qS54AAAAIAAJ&q=The%20Welsh%20Language%20and%20it%27s%20Social%20Domains |title=The Welsh Language and Its Social Domains |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0708316047 |editor-last=Jenkins |editor-first=Geraint H. |editor-link=Geraint H. Jenkins |pages=431–457 |chapter=15 The Welsh Language and the Blue Books of 1847}}</ref>{{rp|453,457}} Virtually all teaching in the schools of Wales was in English, even in areas where the pupils barely understood English. Some schools used the [[Welsh Not]], a piece of wood, often bearing the letters "WN", which was hung around the neck of any pupil caught speaking Welsh. The pupil could pass it on to any schoolmate heard speaking Welsh, with the pupil wearing it at the end of the day being punished. One of the most famous Welsh-born pioneers of higher education in Wales was [[Hugh Owen (educator)|Sir Hugh Owen]]. He made great progress in the cause of education, and more especially the [[Aberystwyth University|University College of Wales]] at [[Aberystwyth]], of which he was chief founder. He has been credited {{By whom|date=November 2009}} with the [[Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889]] (52 & 53 Vict c 40), following which several new Welsh schools were built. The first was completed in 1894 and named {{lang|cy|[[Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen]]}}.

Towards the beginning of the 20th century this policy slowly began to change, partly owing to the efforts of [[Owen Morgan Edwards|O.M. Edwards]] when he became chief inspector of schools for Wales in 1907.
[[File:Bilingualism boosts grades at Treorchy Comprehensive.webm|thumb|A Welsh Government video of an English medium school in [[Wales]], where introducing the Welsh language has boosted the exam results]]

The {{lang|cy|[[Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth]]|italics=no}} ('Aberystwyth Welsh School') was founded in 1939 by [[Ifan ab Owen Edwards|Sir Ifan ap Owen Edwards]], the son of O.M. Edwards, as the first Welsh Primary School.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-29360528 |title=Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth celebrates 75th anniversary |date=2014-09-25 |work=[[BBC News]]  |access-date=2016-10-03 |df=dmy-all |quote=Former pupils and teachers of Wales' first Welsh-medium school will gather to celebrate its 75th anniversary. {{lang|cy|Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth|italics=no}} was opened in September 1939 by Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards, who feared children's spoken Welsh was being tarnished by the English language.}}</ref> The headteacher was [[Norah Isaac]]. {{lang|cy|Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth|italics=no}} is still a very successful school, and now there are Welsh-language primary schools all over the country. {{lang|cy|[[Ysgol Glan Clwyd]]|italics=no}} was established in [[Rhyl]] in 1956 as the first Welsh-medium secondary school.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ysgolglanclwyd.co.uk/welcome |title=Welcome |website=[[Ysgol Glan Clwyd]] |access-date=2016-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005105133/http://www.ysgolglanclwyd.co.uk/welcome |archive-date=2016-10-05|df=dmy-all |quote=The school was established in 1956 and was the first Welsh-medium secondary school in Wales. It was originally located in Rhyl.}}</ref>

[[File:Defnyddiwch eich Cymraeg - Use your Welsh - geograph.org.uk - 488577.jpg|thumb|Sign promoting the learning of Welsh]]
Welsh is now widely used in education, with 101,345 children and young people in Wales receiving their education in Welsh medium schools in 2014/15, 65,460 in primary and 35,885 in secondary.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Education-and-Skills/Schools-and-Teachers/Schools-Census/Pupil-Level-Annual-School-Census/Schools/schools-by-localauthorityregion-welshmediumtype |title=Schools by local authority, region and Welsh medium type |publisher=Stats Wales |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923050052/https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Education-and-Skills/Schools-and-Teachers/Schools-Census/Pupil-Level-Annual-School-Census/Schools/schools-by-localauthorityregion-welshmediumtype |archive-date=23 September 2016 }}</ref> 26 per cent of all schools in Wales are defined as Welsh medium schools, with a further 7.3 per cent offering some Welsh-medium instruction to pupils.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comisiynyddygymraeg.cymru/English/Commissioner/Pages/5-year%20Report.aspx |title=5-year Report |publisher=[[Welsh Language Commissioner]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923092846/http://www.comisiynyddygymraeg.cymru/English/Commissioner/Pages/5-year%20Report.aspx |archive-date=23 September 2016 }}</ref> 22 per cent of pupils are in schools in which Welsh is the primary language of instruction. Under the [[Curriculum for Wales (2022 to present)|National Curriculum]], it is compulsory that all students study Welsh up to the age of 16 as either a first or a second language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/communications_index_ew/the_welsh_language.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718080132/http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/communications_index_ew/the_welsh_language.htm |archive-date=2012-07-18 |title=The Welsh language |website=[[Citizens Advice]] |access-date=2014-02-27 |df=dmy-all |quote=Welsh is a subject in the national curriculum and is compulsory at all state schools in Wales, for pupils up to the age of 16. In English-medium schools, it is taught as a second language, and in Welsh-medium schools, as the first language.}}</ref> Some students choose to continue with their studies through the medium of Welsh for the completion of their A-levels as well as during their college years. All [[local education authority|local education authorities]] in Wales have schools providing bilingual or Welsh-[[medium of instruction|medium]] education.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk/cynnwys.php?langID=2&pID=217|title=Welsh medium or bilingual provision |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071004225315/http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk/cynnwys.php?pID=217&langID=2 |archive-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=[[Welsh Language Board]] }}</ref> The remainder study Welsh as a second language in English-medium schools. Specialist teachers of Welsh called {{lang|cy|Athrawon Bro}} support the teaching of Welsh in the National Curriculum. Welsh is also taught in adult education classes. The Welsh Government has recently set up six centres of excellence in the teaching of Welsh for Adults, with centres in North Wales,<ref>learncymraeg.org</ref> Mid Wales, South West, Glamorgan, Gwent, and Cardiff.

The ability to speak Welsh or to have Welsh as a qualification is desirable for certain career choices in Wales, such as teaching or customer service.<ref>More information can be found at [http://www.welshforadults.org Welsh for Adults.org]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> All universities in Wales teach courses in the language, with many undergraduate and post-graduate degree programmes offered in the medium of Welsh, ranging from law, modern languages, social sciences, and also other sciences such as biological sciences. Aberystwyth, [[Cardiff]], Bangor, and Swansea have all had chairs in Welsh since their virtual establishment, and all their schools of Welsh are successful centres for the study of the Welsh language and its literature, offering a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in Welsh as well as post-graduate courses. At all Welsh universities and the [[Open University]], students have the right to submit assessed work and sit exams in Welsh even if the course was taught in English (usually the only exception is where the course requires demonstrating proficiency in another language). Following a commitment made in the [[One Wales]] coalition government between Labour and Plaid Cymru, the {{lang|cy|[[Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol]]|italic=no}} (Welsh Language National College) was established. The purpose of the federal structured college, spread out between all the universities of Wales, is to provide and also advance Welsh medium courses and Welsh medium scholarship and research in Welsh universities. There is also a Welsh-medium academic journal called {{lang|cy|Gwerddon}} ('Oasis'),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gwerddon.cymru |title=Gwerddon.Cymru |access-date=21 August 2024}}</ref> which is a platform for academic research in Welsh and is published quarterly. There have been calls for more teaching of Welsh in English-medium schools.