- Literature, Music, Drama, Art and Crafts—has been able to meet, though on a smaller scale, in all but one of these difficult war years.
- (iv) Wales is joined to England by geographical, economic, and political ties. Welshmen and women have found their careers across the border, and Englishmen and women have found careers in Wales. We may say, therefore, that the Grammar school in Wales, has, over and above the functions it shares with England, two special functions—
- (a) It must pay heed to the language, literature, history and culture of Wales. More especially, the Welsh—speaking pupil must be given ample opportunity to study his own language and its literature, and the English—speaking pupil must be given opportunity to acquire a knowledge of Welsh. Furthermore, both types of pupils before they leave the school should know about the history and traditions of Wales.
- (b) "At the same time it must be ensured that the pupil, before he leaves the school, has acquired a sound knowledge of English. He must be able to speak and write English correctly and intelligently and to read English books with pleasure and profit. He must also be made aware that, while he is first and foremost a citizen of Wales, he is also, in a wider sense, a member of the community of men and women who form the population of this island, and in a yet wider sense a member of the community of nations which form the British Empire."
The foregoing statement makes clear the duty of a secondary school in Wales. It is, first and foremost, to make the pupils aware of their Welsh citizenship, to give them knowledge of the land in which they live, and of the life and work of its people, and to make them aware of the tradition and culture to which they are heirs. That they should be made aware of the rights and duties of their British citizenship and wider obligations is also clear, but their approach to these wider problems will be the more lively, and their contribution to a wider culture the more valuable if they have been well grounded in their native tradition.
A. The special characteristics of Welsh Culture
So much has been said and written in recent years on Welsh culture that the words stand in great danger of losing any real meaning. The word "culture" has itself been used in so many senses that it would be well at the outset to define what exactly it means in this Memorandum. The culture of any nation may be defined as its way of life. There is, no doubt, a sense in which we may speak of European culture, for there are elements in the cultures of all European peoples which they hold in common. The peoples of Europe have lived in proximity long enough to borrow from one another's beliefs, manners and customs and languages, and in this way have developed something of a "European" sense. But each country reveals in its beliefs, habits, manners, customs and literature, elements that are peculiar to it alone. It is by developing these, by creating conditions whereby the
