Welsh-only school plan divides town near Shropshire border

Plans for an all-Welsh school have divided the town and led to accusations by some of creating a system akin to apartheid.

Powys Council wants to create an all-Welsh High School in the north of the county. It could be centred in Llanfair Caereinion, west of Welshpool, or on a new-build campus elsewhere.

But the plan would mean Llanfyllin High School losing its Welsh teaching and those opposing the move say it would upset the happy balance there is at the moment in Llanfyllin, where both English and Welsh are spoken in equal measure.

The plan was this week described as "segregation" and "artificial social engineering" when hundreds of parents and pupils attended a series of mini meetings at Llanfyllin High School.

They voiced their support for the retention of bilingual education at the school and also the retention of a sixth form.

During one of the emotionally-charged meetings on the future of secondary education in the region, Cefin Campbell for the consultation group brought in by the council, said Powys simply could not afford to retain six secondary schools in the north of the county – currently in Newtown, Llanidloes, Welshpool, Llanfair Caereinion, Llanfyllin and Machynlleth.

He revealed that one of the options being looked at was the designation of Llanfair Caereinion School as north Powys' Welsh school, removing dual language teaching from Llanfyllin.

The former head at Llanfyllin High School, Carl Mincher, said those behind the consultation exercise had failed to grasp the context in which the school sat.

"This school is an extremely successful bilingual school and to take that away would have far-reaching consequences not just for education but for the whole area," he said.

"Pupils attend Llanfyllin not just because of its excellent reputation but because it is bilingual."

Many people said that taking away the Welsh education would lead to fewer Welsh speaking children in the local communities.

Parent Mandy Evans said: "It would be bringing in segregation sending Welsh-speaking children on buses in one direction and English-speaking children in another."

Several parents said they were worried that if the Welsh-speaking pupils were removed from the school, it would take numbers below the 600 mark that was seen as a viable secondary school and that the future of the high school would then be in jeopardy.

Catrin Evans, from Penybontfawr, who has a daughter in the Welsh medium section of the school and a son expected to follow, said it would simply be too far to send them to Llanfair Caereinion school for Welsh eduction.

After the meeting Llanfyllin councillor, Peter Lewis, said the strength of feeling in Llanfyllin was obvious.

"Llanfyllin has been bilingual for as long as anyone can remember. I was in the English stream at Llanfyllin High School, my children were in the Welsh stream. This is a fully bilingual community and it is insulting for consultants to tell us that our Welsh medium teaching could be taken away.

"What they are trying to do is artificial social-engineering and it won't work. It will harm communities and it will harm the Welsh language."