Written question asked by Cynog Dafis (Plaid Cymru), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 July 1997. It was answered by Lord Hain (Labour) on Monday, 21 July 1997 on behalf of the Welsh Office.

Welsh Office

Question: What proposals he has to ensure that Welsh will be a core subject under the National Curriculum at Key Stage 4 from 1999. - Inc ref to White Paper "Building Excellent Schools Together", Cm 3701.

Answer: Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to ensure that Welsh will be a core subject under the national curriculum at key stage 4 from 1999. [8913] Mr. Hain: The White Paper "Building Excellent Schools Together", Cm 3701, published on 8 July, re-affirmed the manifesto commitment to the teaching of Welsh in schools in Wales. Welsh is compulsory at key stage 4 in Welsh-speaking schools, and will remain so. The regulations to make it a compulsory part of the curriculum for 14 to 16 year-olds in non-Welsh-speaking schools from September 1999 are already in place. I regard it as essential that all schools should now be actively preparing themselves for the full implementation of national curriculum requirements at key stage 4 from that date, and that their school development plans and prospectuses should set out what they are doing in that regard. There are 10 secondary schools in Wales who do not currently within the scope of the regulations to make Welsh compulsory from 1999. The Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales will be consulting on a proposal to bring them into line with all other non-Welsh-speaking schools from that date.

Secondary information