Welsh language: ‘Boring’ poems put students off study

‘Boring’ poems and books used for GCSE Welsh discourage students from studying the subject at A level and university, it has been claimed.

Students want a more modern version to be used as the number of universities has halved in the last 10 years.

One warned of the “worrying picture” that the Welsh departments could be threatened in the future if nothing is done to improve the situation.

The Welsh Government said Welsh skills are essential for the future workforce.

Welsh first-year student Tesni Peers, who studies at Bangor University, said she would change parts of the school’s course.

“There are many novels now like ‘Llyfr Glas Nebo’ and Tu ôl i’r Awyr, they would be ideal to study because they are modern and challenging at the same time,” she said.

“Un Nos Ola Leuad was fabulous and I have no regrets reading it at all and I enjoyed some of the poetry [in the GCSE course]but with others I found it boring.

“Furthermore, only a handful of women are accepted when there is a large body of other poetry that should be studied at school.”

Some Welsh A Level students from Ysgol Bro Hyddgen in Machynlleth would also like to see changes.

“I think it will be interesting to modernize the Welsh course but it will be important for people to learn about it for years to come [literature] in the Middle Ages,” said Cerys.

Not also thought that modernization was needed.

“I think more contemporary novels need to be introduced, but I really enjoyed studying Caradog Prichard’s Un Noson Ola Leuad,” she said.

But Branwen said, “We do Hengerdd and Cywyddau, and I enjoy them because we also learn about history.”

Gwynedd Parry, head of Swansea University’s Welsh department, said the course would normally attract around 20 students a year, but that has dwindled over the years.

“Of course it varies from year to year, but in general we’re talking about a halving,” he said.

“It’s a significant drop, so it’s a worrying picture.”

There is a similar pattern across other Welsh faculties in universities in Wales.

At Bangor University, 19 students started an undergraduate Welsh course in 2011, while that number has fallen to 10 students this year.

Cardiff University has fallen from 50 to 30 over the same period and Aberystwyth has fallen from 48 to 23.

However, the Welsh departments said steps have been taken over the years to adapt the course to attract more students.

And from September, Bangor University is giving new students the opportunity to study “a large proportion” of BA and MA (Welsh and Professional Welsh) courses online.

Part of the struggle that universities face is losing potential students before they even consider what degrees to take.

In 2008 and 2009, 304 students were studying Welsh at A-level, but by 2020 that number had dropped to 231.

Over the same period, the number of people who chose Welsh as a second language for high school has fallen from 489 to 195.

Mr Parry said parts of the GCSE course needed an overhaul but he believes there are other reasons for the decline.

“There are messages that, to some extent, encourage young people to study science subjects. There are messages that motivate them to study across the border,” he said.

He said Wales needed Welsh language and literature graduates to support the Welsh Government’s goal of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

“If you’re serious about this, you need to have Welsh graduates to feed the teaching profession, the translation profession and many other areas in our society,” he added.

The Welsh Government said it has given Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol £125,000 a year for the past three years to work with schools, colleges and universities and fund activities aimed at reversing the decline in A-level Welsh.

A spokesperson added: “Knowledge of Welsh is essential for the workforce of the future, particularly in areas such as teaching.”

The Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC) examination board said that some changes are already planned for the Welsh GCSE course.

“WJEC designs and delivers qualifications and assessments to Qualifications Wales requirements and as an awarding body we do not promote any subject over another,” said a spokesperson.

“To support Wales’ new curriculum, Qualifications Wales has recently launched its Qualified for the Future initiative, which includes a new generation of GCSEs, including Welsh language qualifications, to be taught from September 2025.”