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The Ministry of Defence allocates around £1m annually to place children to independent schools in north Wales because "public schools provide some or all lessons in the Welsh tongue".

It paid over one million pounds in educational stipend in north Wales for 83 children of service personnel in the current academic year, and £942,000 for seventy-nine students in 2023-2024 under a established policy.

A spokesperson said "military families' children can face frequent moves" and the stipend "aims to minimize disruption to their schooling".

The Welsh party called it a "complete waste of funds" and "a disrespect to our tongue" while the Conservatives said parents should be able to choose the medium in which their children are taught.

The figures were acquired following a request under the public records law.

The online portal of the military installation on the island informs its workforce, "for those residing and working in northern Wales, where public schools teach some or all lessons in the Welsh tongue, you may choose to send your children to an English-medium private institution".

"Provided you are accompanied by your family at your duty station, you can use this allowance to cover the cost of school charges, educational excursions/residential educational courses and regular commuting."

A defense ministry representative explained, "the purpose of the educational stipend in North Wales (the allowance) is to assist service families stationed to the region, where the Welsh tongue is the primary medium of local state education".

"Since relocation is a aspect of military career, service children can encounter frequent moves and the DSA-NW aims to minimize interference to their education."

"The ministry supports the contributions military members, and their families make, and through the stipend helps with the expenses of private education provided in the English language."

'In Areas With Bilingual or Non-English Instruction'

The allowance includes school costs up to a maximum of twenty-two thousand seven hundred fifty-five pounds annually, £7,585 each semester, and is available to personnel living in the regions of the county, the area, the locality, the island or Flintshire and working in these specific locations:

• RAF Valley, the island
• The combined forces alpine training facility, the island
• Joint Services Mountain Training Wing, Llanrwst
• The university military training program (the corps), Bangor detachment, the city

The eligible independent institutions are Treffos school, the village, Anglesey; Rydal Penrhos preparatory institution in the town; St Gerard's school, Bangor and St David's institution, Llandudno.

The relevant military policy document states that "disbursement of the allowance is restricted to those regions where teaching in the state sector is on a dual-language or non-English basis".

People stationed in other locations in the multiple services of the military - the ground forces, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force - can apply for a educational continuity benefit which contributes towards boarding and/or school charges up to a cap, with a required family share of 10% for each qualifying student.

Welsh Conservative Senedd member Natasha Asghar commented "personnel of the UK military relocate across the nation and the world, and the ministry has always sought to ensure that their children have availability to consistency in education".

"Although we strongly endorse Welsh-medium education across the country, it's important to remember there are dual recognized tongues in our nation, the English tongue and Welsh, and municipal authorities and school boards should accommodate each."

"Families should always have the choice to select the language in which their kids are taught."

The Welsh party's learning representative the assembly member stated "not only is this a complete waste of money, it is a slight to our language".

"It's hard to imagine any valid reason to be allocating these funds annually, on preventing young people living in Wales from having the chance to acquire the Welsh language."

"Dual-language ability enhances life and supports the growth of youth, but the British administration is clearly unaware to this."

"These funds is a clear illustration of the attitude of the UK political groups towards Wales and the Welsh language - namely unawareness and disrespect."