A WELSH GOVERNMENT grant is helping to increase the number of Welsh-speaking teachers and teaching assistants in secondary schools, by supporting innovative solutions to staffing shortages.

The Welsh-medium capacity building grant, which has £900,000 available for the next academic year, is now open for applications. The funding will be available for use from September 2025.

In 2024, Ysgol Rhydywaun in Aberdare used the grant to train existing staff to teach outside their normal subject areas. As a result, the school was able to introduce two new A Level subjects—Psychology and Criminology—allowing pupils to continue their studies in Welsh and broadening their subject choices.

The funding also enabled collaboration with nearby schools to develop enrichment activities, particularly in Maths.

Headteacher Lisa Williams said: “At Rhydywaun, the education workforce capacity grant has ensured a high quality of provision and resources for our pupils, and successful professional learning opportunities for our staff.
Through the grant we have been able to recruit and retain teachers more proactively and develop expertise within the profession. As a result, we’ve seen an improvement in pupils’ performance and academic achievement.”

Last year, 55 grants were awarded to Welsh-medium or bilingual secondary schools across Wales. Schools have used the funding in various ways, including:

• Offering gap-year work experience and apprenticeships to young people as teaching assistants in Welsh-medium schools.
• Encouraging collaboration across schools to deliver professional learning in subject shortage areas.
• Providing undergraduate students with classroom placements to promote teaching as a career option.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education, Lynne Neagle, said:
“Developing a teaching workforce that can deliver education through the medium of Welsh is essential to creating more Welsh speakers. This grant is just one of the innovative schemes helping us achieve that goal.
We’re committed to supporting learners to reach their full potential and giving teachers the professional development they need to raise standards.”

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language, Mark Drakeford, added: “We want to build a Wales where every learner has a fair opportunity to speak Welsh. Our Welsh Language and Education Bill sets out how we will move forward together towards our target of one million Welsh speakers.
Grants like this are helping to ensure we have the workforce needed to make that ambition a reality.”

However, the scheme has not been without criticism.
Responding after the Welsh Government announced the new round of funding, Laura Doel, national secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru, said: “This grant scheme does nothing to fundamentally address the shortages of Welsh medium teachers and we urge caution in encouraging teachers to teach outside their specialisms.
“It is no substitute for proper investment in addressing recruitment and retention issues, including by addressing excessive workload, restoring the value of pay and attracting new Welsh speakers into the profession – rather than simply redistributing the capacity of those who can.
“The Welsh Language and Education Act is woefully unrealistic, with no plan to properly support the workforce to speak Welsh. It is setting the profession up to fail.”

The Welsh-medium capacity building grant forms part of a wider strategy to grow the Welsh-speaking teaching workforce. Other schemes include:

• Cynllun Pontio – helping Welsh speakers in primary schools or from outside Wales become secondary school teachers in Welsh-medium schools.
• Iaith Athrawon Yfory Incentive Scheme – offering a £5,000 grant to students training to teach in Welsh or to teach Welsh as a subject.
• Welsh in Education Teacher Retention Bursary – a £5,000 bursary for secondary teachers who have taught in Welsh or through Welsh for three years since 2020 and remain in post in their fourth year.
• Alternative routes into teaching – expanding Open University and school-based programmes such as a new accredited course at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
• Language skills development – a range of free Welsh language courses for teachers, including the National Centre for Learning Welsh’s Sabbatical Scheme.

Applications for the Welsh-medium capacity building grant are open now.

A VISIT by a senior UK Government figure last week saw industry leaders highlight the crucial role of the Milford Haven Waterway in delivering energy, supporting jobs, and driving economic growth across the UK.

The representative met with members of the Milford Haven Energy Cluster – a partnership of key local and national stakeholders – to discuss the region’s contribution to both current energy security and future net zero ambitions.

Milford Haven is the UK’s largest energy port and handles around 20% of the country’s energy needs. It is home to major infrastructure including LNG terminals, a refinery, and a gas-fired power station, and is at the forefront of developing new clean energy projects such as floating offshore wind, hydrogen, and carbon capture.

Industry leaders stressed the need for long-term investment in port infrastructure, grid connectivity, and workforce skills to ensure the region can meet its full potential in supporting the UK’s green energy transition.

A spokesperson for the Milford Haven Energy Cluster said: “We were pleased to showcase how Pembrokeshire is positioned to lead the UK’s clean energy future. The commitment and collaboration here is real – but we need the right policy frameworks and investment to unlock our potential.”

The Herald understands the visit was part of a broader series of stakeholder engagements by national policymakers and officials to assess the UK’s evolving energy landscape.

DYFED-POWYS POLICE received a report of a two-vehicle collision on the westbound A40 between Arnold’s Hill and Slebech at around 8:30am on Monday (Apr 7).

The road was partially closed while the vehicles were recovered and fully reopened by approximately 10:30am.

No injuries were reported.