Phasing out English medium education could worsen a “crisis” recruiting and retaining teachers.

A Gwynedd Council meeting heard it was already “difficult” to attract staff to the county and nationally teachers were already leaving the profession “in droves”.

The comments were made during a debate over the Draft Revised Education Language Policy, during the council’s Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee meeting.

In a proposed shake up of its language policy the council Gwynedd has an ambition for 70 per cent of lessons to be taught in Welsh.

The branch secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), Elise Poulter, voiced teachers’ concerns over training, funding and the impact on the county’s Welsh language immersion system.

Welsh is already the predominant medium of teaching for the majority of Gwynedd’s educational establishments.

But some schools, including Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn, are “transitioning” towards full Welsh medium provision.

Elise asked if there was “provision” for teachers who do not teach through the medium of Welsh to go on courses to “up-skill themselves”.

Report author Rhys Meredydd Glyn, head of Gwynedd’s Immersion Education System, said the Welsh Government had established the National Centre for Learning Welsh, which the authority was “collaborating with”, and it provided courses for all levels.

Some courses were “specifically tailored” for teachers in specific schools, taking into consideration timetables, including hybrid, face-to-face and partly virtual and self-study courses, he said.

There would also be tutors, one appointed for a specific catchment or school cluster, and “subject specific” courses.

Children coming from non-Welsh speaking areas would also be referred to Gwynedd’s Immersion Education System, but there was an “awareness of increasing pressure” on the scheme.

“We need to make sure we have the capacity to accept incomers and late comers,” he said.

For those “lacking confidence” presenting lessons in the medium of Welsh or who were new Welsh learners, there was “a wide range of courses available” from the national centre,” he added.

But Elise fears these measures won’t stem the numbers leaving teaching.

“I do think we have to be realistic, in teaching we have a retention and recruitment crisis. It’s really difficult to get one or two teachers coming for a lot of jobs within the county and across Wales.

“Teachers are leaving the profession in their droves, we have not got the numbers of people going for the PGCE (postgraduate teaching certificate).

“At the moment, there is not the ability to provide non-contact, but there is money within professional development.

“We will have to be patient, if we are going to get to this [language] goal. We want really really good teachers. I think any teacher who comes here would welcome the opportunity to learn Welsh fluently.

“We have to be able to provide that, so we can provide fantastic education for our children here, but it will take time.”

Cllr Dewi Jones agreed, adding recruitment of teachers was a “general problem”.

“For some schools it will be challenging to reach that 70 percent, but that is why we are taking our time,” he said.