🔗 Share this article Ministry of Defence Allocates Large Sums on Independent Education to Bypass Welsh Education The military facility trains British military aviators as well as personnel for mountain and maritime missions The MoD spends approximately one million pounds each year to send students to independent educational institutions in north Wales because "state schools teach some or all lessons in the Welsh tongue". It paid £1,019,000 in day school allowance in the northern region for eighty-three students of military families in the current academic year, and nearly one million pounds for 79 children in 2023-2024 under a longstanding policy. An official representative said "service children can experience regular relocations" and the allowance "aims to minimize interruption to their schooling". The Welsh party called it a "total misuse of funds" and "a disrespect to our language" while the Tory party said families should be able to choose the language in which their children are taught. The Duke of Cambridge served in RAF Valley from 2010 to 2013 The figures were acquired following a inquiry under the public records law. The online portal of the military installation on the island tells its workforce, "if you live and serve in north Wales, where state schools teach various lessons in the Welsh tongue, you may choose to send your kids to an English-language private institution". "As long as you are joined by your family at your duty station, you can use this allowance to pay for the cost of tuition fees, field study trips/residential learning programs and daily transport." A defense ministry representative explained, "the aim of Day School Allowance in North Wales (the allowance) is to assist military households stationed to the area, where Welsh is the primary medium of local state education". "As mobility is a part of military career, military kids can encounter regular transfers and from this allowance seeks to minimize disruption to their education." "The ministry acknowledges the sacrifices military members, and their relatives undertake, and from the stipend helps with the expenses of independent day schooling provided in English." 'In Areas With Bilingual or Non-English Instruction' The benefit covers tuition fees up to a limit of twenty-two thousand seven hundred fifty-five pounds a year, £7,585 each semester, and is available to people residing in the regions of Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd, the island or the district and working in one of the following establishments: RAF Valley, the island The combined forces alpine training facility, Anglesey Joint Services Mountain Training Wing, Llanrwst The university military training program (UOTC), Bangor detachment, Caernarfon The eligible private schools are Treffos institution, Llansadwrn, Anglesey; Rydal Penrhos preparatory institution in Colwyn Bay; St Gerard's school, Bangor and St David's College, Llandudno. The relevant military policy document states that "disbursement of the allowance is restricted to those areas where teaching in the public system is on a dual-language or non-English basis". People serving elsewhere in the three branches of the military - the Army, the naval service and the air service - can apply for a continuity of education allowance which helps with residential and/or school charges up to a maximum rate, with a minimum parental contribution of 10% for each qualifying student. Tory Senedd member the politician said "personnel of the British armed forces move around the nation and the world, and the ministry has always tried to guarantee that their kids have availability to continuity in schooling". "Although we strongly endorse Welsh-language teaching throughout Wales, it's important to recognize there are two official languages in our nation, the English tongue and Welsh, and local councils and school boards should accommodate both." "Parents should always have the choice to select the language in which their children are instructed." The Welsh party's education spokesperson Cefin Campbell MS stated "not only is this a complete waste of funding, it is a slight to our tongue". "It's hard to imagine any justifiable cause to be allocating these funds every year, on preventing young people residing in Wales from having the chance to acquire the Welsh tongue." "Dual-language ability enriches experience and aids the development of young people, but the UK government is obviously unaware to this." "These funds is a perfect example of the attitude of the UK political groups regarding Wales and the Welsh language - namely unawareness and disrespect."