A LLANFYLLIN councillor has warned that the closure of the secondary school’s Welsh language unit could spell the end of Welsh in the community.
Speaking at Llanfyllin’s town council meeting, county councillor Peter Lewis raised concerns about the option of moving Welsh Medium Education from Llanfyllin to Llanfair Caereinion.
Cllr Lewis fears pupils studying at Llanfyllin High School may choose to give up Welsh medium education if they had to travel another 25 miles a day to Llanfair Caereinion and back.
He said: “This would be catastrophic for the Welsh communities in the catchment area of Llanfyllin.
Powys council has identified two options for the future of Welsh language provision in the area.
One option is to provide a Welsh medium stream at Llanfyllin and Llanfair Caereinion with at least 80 per cent of subjects being available in the Welsh language. The other option is to establish a designated Welsh Medium school at either Llanfyllin or Llanfair Caereinion which could lead to all subjects apart from English being taught in Welsh.
“Fewer pupils will do Welsh medium education due to their reluctance to travel to Llanfair and they might decide to have their lessons in English in Llanfyllin instead,” he said.
“My two children and my brother’s children have already said that they would do this.”
Cllr Lewis also queried the financial viability of concentrating Welsh medium education at Llanfair.
“It has been identified that removal of the Welsh medium facility from Llanfyllin and transferring it to Llanfair, on the council's own figures, exclusive of management changes, will save only £37,000.
“This is a negligible contribution to the hundreds of millions proposed to be spent on this project,” said Cllr Lewis.
He is trying to set up a meeting with officers of the Welsh Language Board so that parents and pupils can raise their concerns.
A spokesman for the board said that its consideration of any council proposals would include how far pupils will have to travel to access Welsh language education.
A Powys council spokesman said parents would have an opportunity to ask the council officers about Welsh language provision in the area at consultation meetings to be held in March.