THE Welsh Government has today announced plans to build the first Welsh medium school in Monmouth town.

The move comes as part of a £51million pledge to support Welsh language education across the country.

The Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning, Eluned Morgan, announced the project at a tour of Ysgol Gyfyn Gwynllyw in Pontypool earlier today (19th September).

Baroness Morgan AM has pledged £46m from the Welsh Medium Capital Grant and Childcare Offer Capital Grant to support the growth in Welsh medium education.

The grant will support some 41 projects across 16 local authorities and create an additional 2818 school and childcare places for Welsh medium learners. This is in addition to the £5million for the Pantycelyn development announced earlier this year, making a total of £51million to support Welsh education.

It is hoped that the primary school will ease pressure on Monmouth’s three existing busy primaries, but the announcement could be a blessing in disguise for the council, which could be asked to run the extra school on its current budget after the grant money is used for a new building.

As well as the new Welsh medium school in Monmouth, among the 41 projects, Ysgol Gyfyn Gwynllyw in Pontypool will be receiving a new primary school and nursery on the current site, new Welsh medium primaries will be created in in Merthyr Tydfil and Torfaen, and a Welsh language centre with be built in Denbighshire.

The announcement is likely to be controversial for a town in which more than 80 per cent of residents can not speak the national language.

Keep an eye on the Beacon for more details on the new school as they’re released.