Ceredigion County Council has approved a controversial move to change the education of youngsters in New Quay and four Aberystwyth schools to Welsh only from later this year despite mass objections.

In May last year, councillors agreed to begin the consultation process to change the medium of language to Welsh in the Foundation Phase in Comins Coch, Llwyn yr Eos, Padarn Sant, and Plascrug schools along with New Quay School.

The council also proposed Comins Coch School and St Padarn’s are able to admit three-year -old pupils on a part time basis.

Initial plans to add a Welsh medium nursery in New Quay were scrapped following objections, with the current Cylch Meithrin in the town decided to be a better setting for youngsters.

A consultation ended in November, with the comments - the majority of which were against from parents who responded - presented to Cabinet members in February.

Despite being presented with scores of objection the Cabinet decided to press ahead and launched the final statutory notice period which ran until 29 March.

That final period saw further objections made as well as petitions from individual schools over the decision.

A 142 signature petition against the planned changes to Plascrug - signed “predominantly by parents or carers of pupils” - said that they were “concerned that this is not the best way to teach very young children.”

“Children learn better through their mother tongue, and non-Welsh speaking families will not be able to support their children with developing reading and writing skills at home to compliment the teaching in school,” the petition said.

Despite mass objections, Cabinet members approved all the changes when they met on Monday, 3 June.

Cabinet member Cllr Wyn Thomas told the meeting that the “main purpose” of the plan is that “all children in Ceredigion become bilingual”.

“There have been a lot of objections and it’s important we listen to them,” Cllr Thomas said, but that added the county council wanted to “move this plan forward.”

Objections read out to members included concerns that pupils’ attainment during their early years in schools would be hampered by not learning in the first language, fears which were dismissed by Cllr Thomas who said he “did not believe” that would happen.

A number of the objections to the changes at the four Aberystwyth schools warned that the town is “multi-cultural” and would hurt the ability of those coming from across the world to integrate and be “negative” for children.

A number of objections also warned that the plan would make it harder for Aberystwyth University and Bronglais Hospital – which both hire key staff from across the world – to attract staff with young families to come to the town.

Objectors also said it would make it harder to attract teachers to the county.

The decision means that nursery classes will begin in the Welsh medium in the five schools in September this year, with reception classes to follow in 2025, Year 1 in 2026 and Year 2 in 2027.