I READ with interest the article by Saul Cook-Black on Welsh GCSE examinations on 12/6/17.  

The response by the National Assembly to the request that the Welsh language GCSE be made non-compulsory was the usual smoke and mirrors. 

I quote “It is not compulsory to enter pupils to sit a GCSE or any other qualification.”  

That is nothing new; the pupils could always excuse themselves from any examination even by just not turning up. 

But what the responder to the enquiry carefully omitted to add was that the insistence on compulsory Welsh lessons prevents them from learning additional subjects, so therefore the authorities have made it impossible for them to successfully gain a GCSE in what would be their chosen subject. 

Which might of improved our poor international standing.

The article also mentions the growth in demand for Welsh Language skills in -wait for it- promoting the Welsh language. 

I don’t see a lot of income for Wales in that self-serving scenario. 

Why can’t they remove their blinkers and see the real hugely competitive advanced technical world our children will have to live in?  

We should be aiming to be like Singapore not sinking to a third world low-wage country. 

John Pimley
Hillcrest
New Inn 
Pontypool