Ministry of Defence Spends Large Sums on Private Education to Avoid Welsh Language Teaching
The Ministry of Defence spends approximately one million pounds annually to send students to independent educational institutions in north Wales because "state schools teach various classes in the Welsh language".
The ministry disbursed over one million pounds in day school allowance in the northern region for eighty-three students of military families in the current academic year, and nearly one million pounds for 79 children in the previous year under a longstanding practice.
An official representative said "military families' children can face regular relocations" and the stipend "aims to reduce disruption to their schooling".
The Welsh party called it a "complete waste of funds" and "an insult to our language" while the Tory party argued families should be able to select the language in which their children are educated.
The figures were obtained following a inquiry under the public records law.
The online portal of the military installation on the island informs its personnel, "if you live and serve in northern Wales, where public schools teach various classes in the Welsh language, you may choose to enroll your kids to an English-language private institution".
"As long as you are joined by your family at your duty station, you can use this benefit to pay for the cost of school charges, field study trips/residential learning programs and daily transport."
An MoD spokesperson told, "the aim of the educational stipend in North Wales (the allowance) is to assist service families stationed to the region, where Welsh is the main language of public schooling".
"As mobility is a part of service life, military kids can encounter regular transfers and the this allowance aims to minimize disruption to their education."
"The ministry supports the contributions service personnel, and their relatives undertake, and from the stipend helps with the costs of private education given in English."
'Where teaching is bilingual or non-English'
The allowance includes tuition fees up to a maximum of £22,755 a year, seven thousand five hundred eighty-five pounds each semester, and is available to personnel living in the regions of Conwy, the area, the locality, Anglesey or Flintshire and working in these specific locations:
- The military base, the island
- Joint Services Mountain Training Centre, Anglesey
- The joint military mountain unit, Llanrwst
- The university military training program (UOTC), Bangor unit, Caernarfon
The qualifying independent institutions are Treffos institution, the village, the island; Rydal Penrhos Prep school in Colwyn Bay; St Gerard's, Bangor and St David's institution, the town.
The relevant military policy document states that "payment of the stipend is restricted to those regions where instruction in the state sector is on a dual-language or non-English foundation".
Personnel serving in other locations in the three branches of the armed forces - the Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force - can claim a educational continuity benefit which contributes towards boarding and/or tuition fees up to a maximum rate, with a minimum parental contribution of ten percent for each eligible child.
Welsh Conservative Senedd member Natasha Asghar commented "members of the British armed forces move around the nation and the world, and the MoD have always tried to ensure that their kids have availability to consistency in education".
"Although we fully support Welsh-language teaching throughout Wales, it's important to remember there are two official languages in our country, the English tongue and Welsh, and municipal authorities and education authorities should provide for both."
"Parents should always have the choice to decide the medium in which their kids are instructed."
Plaid Cymru's education spokesperson the assembly member said "not only is this a total misuse of money, it is an insult to our language".
"I cannot think of any valid reason to be allocating such money annually, on blocking young people living in Wales from having the chance to acquire the Welsh tongue."
"Bilingualism enriches life and aids the development of young people, but the British administration is obviously unaware to this."
"This money is a perfect example of the attitude of the Westminster parties regarding the nation and the Welsh language - namely unawareness and insults."
