A SOCIAL group aims to promote the Welsh language education in Llanfyllin.

Parents for Welsh Education (RhAG) held a well-attended inaugural social event at the Cross Kreys, with entertainment from musician Geraint Lovgreen.

Spokesman for RhAG Llanfyllin, Powys County councillor Bryn Davies said: “ The dramatic decline in numbers of Welsh speakers happening before our eyes, just one example being Llanwddyn parish, where 59.7 per cent of the population spoke Welsh in 2001 which reduced to 38.1 per cent in 2011, highlights the need for an active parent-led group in the area to promote the language.

“During the last 50 years, dozens of Welsh medium secondary schools have been established in the cities and valleys of south Wales. Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire have long established systems enabling the vast majority of their children to be entirely bilingual. Denbighshire produces more children who sit their GCSEs in Welsh than the whole of Gwynedd. In this sense Powys (which has not yet established a single Welsh Medium secondary school) is way behind the curve.”

Acccording to RhAG, it is internationally recognised that immersion education offers the best conditions for a child to acquire a second language, and to become fully fluent.

This is the method adopted by Welsh medium schools, with at least 70 per cent of the lessons in KS2 provided through the medium of Welsh.

Cllr Davies added: “We call for Welsh medium education to be made a practical and convenient choice for all children in the area, especially in the large villages to the east of Llanfyllin, so that Powys can start producing a critical mass of truly bilingual young people and make a meaningful contribution to the Welsh Government’s national target of having a million Welsh speakers by 2050.”

Those interested in joining the group, email Bryn Davies on cllr.bryn.davies@powys.gov.uk or visit www.facebook.com/RHAG-Dalgylch-Llanfyllin-Area-170210753647675/