Motionproposed by :
To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Regrets that the GCSE attainment of A*-C grades in Wales for
summer 2018 were the worst since 2005.
2. Expresses concern over school standards, given the number of
Welsh schools placed in special measures by Estyn and in receipt
of warning notices from Welsh local education authorities.
3. Calls on the Welsh Government to invest more in education to
address the funding gap per pupil between England and Wales.
Extracts
AM...Local
authorities, teachers, teaching unions—they tell us that schools
have now reached crisis point. Following real-terms cuts to per
pupil funding of £300 since 2009, the education unions are saying
that we're seeing increases in class sizes, it's leading to an
overreliance on teaching assistants, who aren't, of course,
properly paid, it's leading to a detrimental impact on the
curriculum, and pupils' education will inevitably suffer as
a result. So, it's a miracle, actually, that they are performing
as well as they are performing under those circumstances. And
that does have an effect or an impact on teachers' and pupils'
morale as well, and there's a vicious circle isn't there, really:
with diminishing levels of staffing in many of our schools, the
workload on the remaining teachers is much higher and the
pressures and the stress are bound to show. It's certainly
reflected in the way that fewer people are being attracted into
the profession now, with numbers of new trainee teachers missing
targets, secondary school teachers targets missed by over a
third in 2016-17, the target missed as well for primary
school trainees, and a third of teachers who responded to the
Education Workforce Council's national education workforce survey
said that they intended to leave the profession in the next three
years. And, of course National Education Union Cymru figures as
well have shown that over 15,000 working days a year are now lost
by teachers due to stress-related illnesses.356
Now, Plaid Cymru's fully costed manifesto from 2016 outlined how
we would introduce a number of initiatives, including an annual
premium payment to teachers and a payment as well to teaching
assistants—we mustn't forget them. We talked about a greater
focus on allowing time for training, a greater emphasis on
continuing professional development, more time to prepare and to
teach and to mark, but, of course, all of this costs money, and
we recognise that. But creating a world-class education system
will cost money, and we mustn't fool ourselves that we can do it
any other way. So, the Welsh Government must step up to that
mark, and it's only then that we can fairly and
reasonable expect our teachers and our pupils to achieve the
improved standards and results that we all want to see.
(Oscar) AM...Today,
schools in Wales remain significantly underfunded, with serious
consequences for educational standards across our country.
According to NASUWT, the spend per pupil funding gap between
England and Wales has widened to £678. This has had a
devastating knock-on effect on teacher retention, teacher
training, school building repairs and various measures to support
the learning needs of disadvantaged groups and children from
poorer families....
AM, Cabinet
Secretary for Education...
We are investing in leadership,
we’re investing in our more able and talented children and
we're spending more on the pupil deprivation grant than ever
before to address the concerns of vulnerable groups that
just mentioned. And let me
be absolutely clear: money received by this Government for pay
of teachers will be spent on the pay of teachers.
...As you will know—it's something that both my party and your
party have campaigned on for a number of years—the Welsh
Government will assume responsibility for setting teachers' pay
and conditions from the end of this month. I am expecting this
week to receive an important report from Professor Mick Waters
with options on how we can use those new powers to better
reward our teachers and attract high-quality recruits to the
profession. One thing I will reiterate, though, is that this
isn't just about money and salaries. Those who want to work
with our children are motivated by something so much more than
that—there are better ways to get rich. They are motivated by
the desire to be part of the public sector workforce to do
something amazing for our children and young people.
So, we also have to look at the issue of conditions. Taking
over responsibility for teachers' pay and conditions is an
incredibly important step in our education system. Right from
the outset, we want to make sure that we have a system based
on the values of equity and of excellence, and a commitment
to an inclusive public service education. I believe that this
is fundamental to supporting and strengthening our teaching
profession.
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