Sir,

Your correspondent Ivor Jenkins from Cheshire ('Pembrokeshire needs Welsh like a sore thumb', December 21) raises some interesting points of history in his tirade against Welsh - the most astounding being the notion that the Normans, Flemish, Saxons and Romans pre-date the Celts.

Just as well he's not in charge of history teaching in Tenby!

But seriously, this debate is not about Normans and Celts, it is not about history at all, it is about the future for the people who really count in 2013 - the next generation.

Today's reality is that our children live in a devolved Wales where Welsh is an official language. And the role of education is to give them equal opportunities to thrive within that country in the language of their choice.

Wales and Pembrokeshire in the 21st century are changing fast. Welsh-medium teaching is already available in Tenby, but has failed to keep up with the demand from parents - from nursery to secondary level.

The county's single bilingual secondary school, Ysgol y Preseli, with many pupils from the Tenby area, is already at bursting point.

What the parents of these children recognise is that bilingualism has benefits both in terms of mental development, as many studies have shown, and of course in terms of career opportunities. Schools would quite simply be failing our children if they did not offer them these choices.

Mr Jenkins has the right to rage against the way Wales is governed, voters can even vote to change it (although it has to be said that no major party is currently offering an independent monolingual English-speaking Pembrokeshire in its manifesto. Or a Flemish-speaking one for that matter.)

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding here. No-one, child or adult, is obliged to speak Welsh in Wales, or to be taught through Welsh, any more so than in Cheshire.

But in Wales in 2013, it is their right to have the choice.

Eifion Jenkins,

Wisemans Bridge,

Narberth.