That seems to be the suggestion made by two leading Welsh economists.
Writing in the latest Bevan Foundation review Professor David Blackaby and Professor Philip Murphy of Swansea University assess what actions the Assembly Government could take to deal with the recession. Not many, seems to be the conclusion.
Education is one area where they suggest WAG could do more to up-skill the Welsh workforce. So what’s stopping them? That damned obsession with the language…
Does the schooling system provide sufficient business and economic skills to its pupils? Evidence suggests these skills are highly rewarded in the labour market but they are not a mainstay of the curriculum. Similarly other features of the current curriculum may need to be reviewed. For example is the amount of time given to learning Welsh in schools an efficient use of resources? If it should remain compulsory should it be compulsory up to the age of 16?
Having planted that idea the authors go on discuss what can be done to make Wales a more business friendly environment. And then, up it pops again…
Should the Welsh Assembly Government consider the business costs of additional legislation in relation to the Welsh Language?
It is long article – long on analysis, short on solutions – and I don’t want to unfairly seize on one element, but it seems odd to me that they keep coming back to the cost of language policy. What of the costs of other policies deemed to have a social benefit?
What is their vision – a nation of English speaking entrepreneurs?
Thursday, 18 June 2009
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4 comments:
Motes etc. The Bevan foundation hardly a shining example of use of Welsh.
What a crock of shit. Two hours of Welsh every fortnight is really going to cripple the Welsh education system isn't it?
Swansea Uni has really gone downhill since I left, mind you, we always said that the Social Sciences department was full of fuckwits.
Anti-Welsh sentiment is still prevalent in some circles, notably academia. This is not untypical of the narrow and unscientific prejudices of the ivory towered elite.
Just caught up with this depressing blog - and even more depressing 'academics'. Where is the research counterbalance that shows the benefits of a bilingual nation, and bilingual education? There are proven, overwhelming benefits at a personal and national level for being a nation of two languages. Much of the problem is not that we spend two hours a week with (apparently often badly) taught Welsh, but that we don't embrace the notion of bilinguality wholeheartedly. It could be a massive differentiation that impacts on economics as well as social well-being. (I'm a lapsed, getting on a bit, Welsh learner from England btw with grandchildren who will happily speak English, German and Flemish without bating an eyelid!)
And as for the record of higher education to offer Welsh language education .... yes, more motes ....
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