Kirsty Williams: Student voice is important at all levels of education, and what we seek to do is increase the ability for students to shape their institutions, whether that be at schools, universities or FE. I'm not so pessimistic as the Member is about the contribution that the NUS members are making to our FE. I was recently at the Graig campus at Coleg Sir Gâr in Llanelli, where we had a very productive...
Kirsty Williams: I have indeed seen the report. It's an important piece of work, although it is very depressing reading. Once again we have to remind ourselves that Wales is not immune from issues of racism. More than simply seeing the report, I met with the Equality and Human Rights Commission recently, ahead of its publication, to have an early discussion with them about their expectations of what more...
Kirsty Williams: I have to say, Presiding Officer, it would be helpful if the Member could keep up. That commission was established several months ago under the chairmanship of Mick Waters. It includes headteachers from Wales and school governors from Wales as well as independent experts outside the Welsh education system.
Kirsty Williams: I've not received any representation from the teaching unions about the specifics that the Member mentions around part-time and flexible working, although workload issues in general are a standing item on the agenda every time I meet with the teaching unions. The flexibility that the Member just highlighted is indeed one of the things that the re-imagining the school day commission is...
Kirsty Williams: My ability to respond positively to those issues, of course, would be helped immensely if we were to see an end to austerity originating out of the Member's own party and their Government in Westminster. Later on this afternoon, we will be able to have an extended debate on the work of the Children, Young People and Education Committee around the issue of school funding. I am determined, in...
Kirsty Williams: According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis, spending per pupil in Wales is just below £6,000 on average. However, this varies considerably between local authorities, reflecting differences in deprivation and sparsity, as well as choices made by individual local authorities in line with their responsibilities for setting school budgets.
Kirsty Williams: As I have just explained to Mohammad Asghar, later on this afternoon we will have an opportunity to debate the findings of the CYPE report. I don't want to pre-empt that debate, but the Member will be aware that I've accepted all the recommendations of that report, including its main recommendation, which is to establish an independent review into education funding in Wales, examining the...
Kirsty Williams: Okay. So, the money that was announced yesterday, the £12.8 million in-year to support local authorities with the costs of implementing the teachers' pay rise, is new money, in addition, being made available by my colleague the finance Minister. It should be said that we have received not a single penny of consequentials from the Westminster Government to pay for the teachers' pay rise,...
Kirsty Williams: I agree with you, Mike, with regard to the importance of investing in education. It is an investment; it's not a cost. If we want to develop the high skills that we will need for a successful economy in the future, the best thing that we can do is invest in our children and in those who work with them every day. The allocation is agreed between us and the local authorities, and will be done...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much. Preventing homelessness requires a holistic approach across all public services. However, within education, the youth service is playing a key role in tackling and preventing homelessness. This is supported through our wider education reform, including our new curriculum and the introduction of a whole-school approach to mental health and well-being.
Kirsty Williams: I couldn't agree with you more, David; I'm sure all of us with an interest in these issues will have been impressed by the strength of the call from members of our Youth Parliament for reform of the education system, and the need to balance their education system, yes, with subject knowledge and qualifications, but also with those essential skills that they feel they need to be the successful...
Kirsty Williams: First of all, Leanne, can I say I have never believed, and I will never believe, that homelessness is a choice? It is the result of a set of circumstances that many of us in this Chamber hopefully will never know, but all of us could potentially be. A critical illness, a relationship breakdown, a drug or alcohol misuse problem can lead to this, so we should be very careful when we make those...
Kirsty Williams: Andrew, I continue to have discussions with the Minister for finance to ensure that the budget settlement for education is sufficient to support delivery of our priorities. This includes ensuring that our education bodies receive adequate funding.
Kirsty Williams: As I said in answer to earlier questions, Andrew, we are working across Government to prioritise front-line services, whether that be education, social services or the range of other public services that the members of the public expect this Welsh Government to deliver. The vast majority of education funding does not come from the education department. It comes, as was identified by your...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, can I thank Jack Sargeant for his welcome of the additional resources that we've been able to make available to help cover the costs of teachers' pay rises? And, yes, I absolutely can confirm that those discussions, on a cross-Cabinet basis, will continue and there is a determination across the entirety of Welsh Government to prioritise front-line spending on those public...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Lynne. As you know, we launched together on 10 September the new guidance and we will continue to work with partners, including the national advisory group, to ensure that it is promoted extensively amongst professionals, not just in schools but more widely across the system. And as part of our whole-school approach, we will consider how best to monitor its implementation, take-up...
Kirsty Williams: Yes. I am very well aware of the report that the Member refers to but the Member is also right in saying that the publication of our guidance is only the first step of the process. We will need to ensure, via the ministerial task and finish group, of which Lynne Neagle is a member, to develop robust implementation and monitoring systems, but it is also my intention to co-produce further...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Nick, I think it is true to say that we have come some way in talking about suicide, but there is still a huge amount of stigma attached to suicide. And there is often a great nervousness amongst professionals to talk about what are very, very sensitive issues. Often they fear that what they may say may make matters worse, and that is the reason why we commissioned these resources in...
Kirsty Williams: Well, there are a plethora of training programmes and interventions that are available, and that sometimes causes problems for our schools—knowing which is the best training and the most appropriate and evidence-based approach to undertake. And that's why, as part of our whole-school approach to mental health, we are developing a toolkit for schools and a resource base for schools to try...
Kirsty Williams: Diolch yn fawr, Rhun. Learners currently have opportunities to study international citizenship through education for sustainable development and global citizenship, the Welsh baccalaureate, and personal and social education. Ensuring that learners become ethical, informed citizens, who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world, is, of course, one of our four purposes in our new curriculum.
