The availability of supply teachers is struggling to keep up with
demand, a Senedd Committee has heard, with schools sometimes
forced to employ unqualified staff to provide cover.
In its assessment of the Welsh Government's attempts to address
the issue, the Senedd's Public Accounts and Public Administration
Committee concluded that, despite important steps being taken in
recent years, progress is still too slow to the detriment of
pupils.
The Committee recently carried out an inquiry to measure progress
since a major report by the Auditor General for Wales in 2020
highlighted a number of problems that Welsh Government needed to
tackle within the supply teaching system.
Finding adequate cover in rural areas and a lack of Welsh
language teachers to teach Welsh and other subjects through the
medium of Welsh were major issues highlighted in 2020 and remains
a specific problem today.
A lack of data about teachers' absences for reasons other than
sickness, and details about how schools are using the Welsh
Government's national agency framework to hire supply cover, also
make it difficult to monitor how well Welsh Government is
performing and if the arrangements represent value for money.
Drawbacks were also highlighted with the recruitment and
retention incentives for teachers and the Committee is frustrated
that The National Supply Pool for Wales – an online booking
platform for schools to find teachers - has not yet been
introduced nationwide.
Quality of the teaching cover really matters
Chair of the Senedd's Public Accounts and Public
Administration Committee, MS, says:
“It is said that ‘a good teacher can change everything', but when
that teacher is unavoidably absent the quality of the teaching
cover really matters. We must provide the best possible provision
covering teaching absences in the classroom so that children's
education does not suffer unduly.
“It is essential that we have an adequate supply of adequately
paid, qualified and motivated supply teachers, across all ages
and subjects, in both Welsh and English.
“Despite important steps being taken by the Welsh Government in
recent years, the Committee is concerned that progress is too
slow and that where action is being taken, the lack of monitoring
means the Welsh Government cannot be sure if its approach is
having the desired impact.
“Importantly, the Committee would like to see the long discussed
‘national supply pool' made a reality nationwide and all supply
teachers having access to the enhanced pay, pension and training
provision of their colleagues.”
The report will now be shared with the Welsh Government for its
response.
ENDS
Notes to editors
An embargoed version of the Committee's report is available here:
Supply and Demand:
Covering Teachers' Absence
