Jeremy Miles: I am looking forward to discussing how Taith can help open even more doors in Europe when I visit Brussels to speak to MEPs and others next week. And although Taith carries a brilliant message to our international partners, it is just one part of our ambitious international education offer. Our international education programme, delivered by British Council Wales, continues to provide...
Jeremy Miles: I am sure that Members will share my enthusiasm for the progress that Taith has made and the success it has already enjoyed in its first year. This will encourage education providers in their local areas to get involved with the programme if they are not already. We are developing an international education exchange programme for all learners in all of Wales. Some great work has been done...
Jeremy Miles: The programme's flexible, it won't be wasteful, and it is significantly superior to Turing.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I thank the Member for those very important questions. On the first point that she made in terms of investment, I think that, when you look at the pressures on families now, the opportunities that can transform and broaden the horizons of young people become even more important now than they were previously. In terms of the emphasis on ensuring that it is inclusive, in the broader sense...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Alun Davies for that important set of questions. I share with him the ambition to make sure that all parts of our education system and all communities are able to benefit from this very ambitious scheme. One of the most exciting elements in it, I feel, has been the relationships that have been developed and established between schools and schools in other countries. Dirprwy Lywydd,...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd—[Interruption.]
Jeremy Miles: So, schools in Wales have been establishing mobilities to Belgium, to Bangladesh, to Canada and to Colombia and creating that network at a school level, where, previously, the focus would have been at a higher education level principally. He asked me to confirm the availability to all parts of the education sector. I think there were fewer applications from the further education sector than...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Outdoor learning is a fundamental element in terms of the well-being of our children and young people. It's a way of helping them to keep physically healthy and can help with their mental and emotional well-being too. It allows them to relate to the world around them, giving them an opportunity to experience the wonders of nature. That's why our new curriculum...
Jeremy Miles: It is, of course, important, Dirprwy Lywydd, to emphasise that different learners have different needs. We want to empower schools to choose the outdoor learning experiences that best support their particular learners in their particular context. That will—and rightly will—look different for different learners, with different contexts at different ages. To be successful, our efforts to...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I would like to thank, if I may, members of the Children, Young People and Education Committee for their report. Inquiries such as this do help to keep these important conversations on top of the agenda, and I would like to mention today some of the steps that we are taking. First of all, it's important that we don't ignore the power of the voices of children and...
Jeremy Miles: Digital technologies have changed the way we all communicate, and this is especially true of young people, as we've just heard in Jenny Rathbone's contribution. Online sexual harassment encompasses a wide range of behaviours, and I recognise the challenge this presents to schools. I visited a school myself recently that has been working with boys, in that case, on understanding the impact of...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Universities are a crucial element of our economy, producing over £5 million of outputs every year. They are anchor institutions in their local areas, providing opportunities for jobs and supply chains, and diverse populations of students and staff. Their contribution is also felt across Wales and beyond through their innovative work on innovation,...
Jeremy Miles: Of course, it's not only through research and innovation that universities have an economic impact. They are anchor institutions and significant employers. In 2019-20, one in 20 jobs in Wales was associated with university activity. Over 21,700 jobs were provided by Welsh universities, with a further 19,600 jobs created in other industries through the knock-on effect of higher education. I am...
Jeremy Miles: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to make a statement on our plans to make Wales a second chance nation, where it's never too late to learn, and that includes progress on reforming and renewing adult learning, the implementation of a new legal duty to fund the area, and the development of our pilot citizens curriculum programme. I have said before in this Chamber that I want Wales to be a...
Jeremy Miles: Creating a second chance nation will require us to overcome barriers and to reverse some recent trends. Adult participation in learning has fallen across the UK over the previous decade. Research shows that those who are most likely to benefit from re-engaging in education as adults, particularly those who are most disadvantaged and least well qualified, are also the least likely to do...
Jeremy Miles: Over 27,000 people have benefited from these new courses since their introduction in 2017, and we've invested over £55 million to build provision. Over the next three years, we are allocating a further £52 million in the programme to help employed people upskill and reskill into priority areas. Last year, I provided almost £6 million to improve digital capacity and to address the...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for her questions and the constructive way in which she has engaged with the statement, and I think it's an indication of the support across the Chamber for initiatives in relation to making sure that adults can return to education at any point in life. She identifies some important potential barriers to people making the decision to do that. I think, in a way, the most...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Sioned Williams for those questions. I think that the statement answered most of them. But, just to recognise that the challenges that she mentions are very real, and that we do need to ensure that we use the budget available to us in the most innovative way possible. That’s why the support provided through the PLA, which she acknowledged in her question, and the support provided in...
Jeremy Miles: Can I just thank John Griffiths for that? He spoke very movingly at the event in the Senedd about his own journey, as he has here today, and I think it absolutely illustrates the power and the importance of lifelong learning to democratise access to education at every point in your life. I think that the story that John Griffiths has just given is the inspiring story of adult education—it's...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. In opening this debate today and asking you to note the annual report of the Welsh Language Commissioner for the year 2021-22, there is of course an element of sadness as we remember Aled Roberts. Aled’s contribution as Welsh Language Commissioner during this period was very innovative and progressive, and set a firm foundation for the commissioner’s...
