Speak Welsh? Patagonia needs more teachers

The Argentinian region of Patagonia is looking for teachers to work at Welsh-language schools for the area’s 2,000 to 5,000 Welsh speakers.

The U.K.‘s British Council funds three Welsh-speaking teachers to stay in the region, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to recruit them.

Currently, the area has four teachers covering nine classes.

Teachers looking to take up the position have until Dec. 30 to apply. They will be paid £750 ($900) per month. Travel and accommodation expenses are also covered.

In the 1860s, Welsh speakers settled in Wladfa, seeking to create a Welsh-speaking enclave following a ban by the British parliament on the use of the language in schools.

• In 2015, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia turned 150. The BBC traveled to the area to document the “Welsh bubble” one family lives in, and the region’s Welsh-language schools.