Local and national policy at the heart of Cytûn’s Eisteddfod discussions
Cytûn used its presence at Eisteddfod Genedlaethol y Garreg Las to continue discussion around some of the most pressing challenges facing communities across Wales, with education and the future of faith schools high on the agenda.
Dr Cynan Llwyd, General Secretary of Cytûn, met the Rt Revd Dorrien Davies, Bishop of St Davids and Church in Wales Bishop with responsibility for education.
The discussion was particularly timely. The Church in Wales has expressed strong concern over proposals affecting the status of church schools in Pembrokeshire, including Ysgol Cilgerran, a Welsh-medium school where Pembrokeshire County Council has proposed removing its Voluntary Controlled Church in Wales status.
The Church has argued that the issue goes well beyond the administrative status of an individual school. It concerns parental choice, the character of local communities and families’ ability to access a church-school education. Bishop Dorrien visited schools facing change earlier this year, underlining the value of both their educational contribution and their Christian ethos.
This raises a wider question for Wales: what place will faith schools have in the future of Welsh education?
Church in Wales schools educate around 27,000 learners. At its national schools conference this year, the Church emphasised equity, inclusion and community cohesion alongside educational excellence and Christian vision.
For Cytûn, this is not an issue for one denomination or one school alone. Education is one of Cytûn’s five policy priority areas, as endorsed by its membership. That gives Cytûn a clear responsibility to ensure that the experience, voice and contribution of the churches form part of the national conversation about the future of education in Wales.
The conversation between Dr Llwyd and Bishop Dorrien therefore connected an immediate local concern with a much wider national challenge: how can Wales protect educational choice, value the contribution of faith schools, and ensure that decisions about the future of schools are rooted in the needs and voices of the communities they serve?
Watch the conversation between Bishop Dorrien and Dr Cynan Llwyd as they discuss the challenges facing education and faith schools in Wales – and please share it to help widen this important conversation.