Paul Davies: First Minister, you need to stop giving excuses and start taking responsibility. You are responsible for education here in Wales, and, First Minister, this open letter to your education Minister is a damning reflection on the way your Government has managed education here in Wales. Despite having £1.20 to spend on education here in Wales for every £1 in England, we still see a significant...
Paul Davies: Diolch, Lywydd, and I'm pleased to take part in this debate this afternoon and highlight some of the ways I think we can help our learners achieve better standards in Welsh schools. There’s no doubt that we are all extremely concerned and disappointed by Wales’s PISA figures last week. Despite the hard work and professionalism of teachers across Wales, the figures show that Wales is...
Paul Davies: ...be enormous. In my own constituency, there was a very strong performance at Ysgol y Preseli at A* to A grades, which I'm proud to say is significantly above the national average. However, not all schools in Pembrokeshire delivered improvements, and whilst I understand that improvements have been made at several schools across the county in achieving A* to C grades, Pembrokeshire County...
Paul Davies: Minister, I'm sure you will join with me in congratulating Ysgol y Preseli in my constituency. As you know, it's a Welsh-medium secondary school graded second in Wales, according to The Sunday Times school guide this year, for its excellent performance. It's important that other schools learn from Welsh-medium schools such as Ysgol y Preseli in terms of promoting the use of the Welsh language...
Paul Davies: Thank you, Diprwy Lywydd, and I’m pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate this afternoon. We've heard from professionals in the field of education recently that they believe that the low levels of school funding in Wales are preventing them from teaching lessons to the standards that they require. There is a lack of resources, and, increasingly, the lack of a full...
Paul Davies: ...1.20, and you cannot deny those facts, given it was you—it was you—who agreed this fiscal framework with the UK Government in the first place. So, is there any wonder there is a crisis in our schools when they have received consistent cuts to their budgets by your Government? Now, let’s look at the figures, shall we, First Minister? We know that, between 2010-11 and 2018-19, gross...
Paul Davies: Trefnydd, can I echo Laura Anne Jones's request, and ask the Minister for Education to now make a statement regarding the reopening of schools across Wales? I appreciate that a phased return for children has now begun, but I'm also receiving representations from parents in my constituency who are frustrated that some of their children are unable to return to school, and are understandably...
Paul Davies: ...of the NASUWT union, and this is despite having a funding settlement that allows £120 to be spent per person in Wales for every £100 spent in England. But it's not just your decision to underfund schools that has led to a decline in standards, it is the failure of your Government to set a clear direction for education here in Wales. Let's take the Programme for International Student...
Paul Davies: Well, I'm glad she's had a very constructive dialogue with Pembrokeshire County Council. Now, as the leader of the house is aware, schools rely on broadband to help deliver parts of the curriculum, and it's imperative that it is available to all schools across Wales. I understand that Ysgol Llanychllwydog in Pembrokeshire is the only school in the area that is not able to receive broadband,...
Paul Davies: I’m grateful to the Minister for that response. I’m also very grateful that Ysgol Bro Cleddau in my constituency was named recently as the Assembly’s first ambassador school in Wales, and the success of the programme has led the school to understand more about the work of the Assembly and has given the pupils a platform to discuss current affairs. Now, in light of this success, what...
Paul Davies: First Minister, you said yourself that you took your eye off the ball on education. Clearly, your party has been asleep at the wheel for the last decade. And let me give you some figures: under your party's stewardship, we've seen the worst GCSE results in a decade; the lowest ranking PISA scores in the UK, with educational attainment ranking behind countries like Vietnam and Slovakia; an 8...
Paul Davies: Minister, a report by Estyn earlier this year showed that standards in literacy, numeracy and Welsh second language require improvement in around half of primary schools and all secondary schools inspected since 2017 in Pembrokeshire. Given that Pembrokeshire local government education services are causing concern and require follow-up activity, can you tell us what discussions the Welsh...
Paul Davies: ...from the outset, that the Welsh Conservatives will support this motion. Of course, we on this side of the Chamber recognise that Wales faces a number of challenges when it comes to our health, our education system and out economy, and I’ll be focusing on the future. As the second point of the motion says, performance in these policy areas clearly shows that the Welsh Government must be...
Paul Davies: ...and the Welsh Government have worked together on legislation to strengthen the Welsh Government's powers on matters like quarantining and mass gatherings, and, as you're already aware, some schools in Wales and across the UK have closed their doors to students at risk of coronavirus. Of course, schools are a particular problem in terms of stopping the spread of the virus, and so it's...
Paul Davies: ...for society, and we all have a duty to ensure that children are protected better from the risks of using the internet. As Darren Millar said, the internet is an extremely useful tool, too, for educating children online, and previous generations could only dream of that. Not only is it an excellent academic tool that can support teaching and learning, it also provides access to the latest...
Paul Davies: ...the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average in all PISA measures. It's quite clear, First Minister, that you and your Government are failing to significantly improve Wales's education system. Now, I know and accept that the Welsh Government has announced a series of reforms, and only last month, Professor Calvin Jones of Cardiff Business School and Sophie Howe, the...
Paul Davies: I remind the First Minister that he is responsible for health policy here in Wales. And this is not just about hospitals, this particular policy, but it's also about our schools too. A paper published by the Nuffield Foundation and UCL Institute of Education showed that a quarter of teachers work more than 60 hours per week in the UK. We know that your Government has made it clear that it has...
Paul Davies: Minister, in this forthcoming financial year, all of the secondary schools in Pembrokeshire are projecting deficit budgets, and the Pembrokeshire association of secondary headteachers has made it clear that this will result in reducing the number of teaching staff, reducing the breadth of the curriculum offered, and a need to increase the number of pupils in classes to enable fewer teachers...
Paul Davies: Minister, in evidence to the Children, Young People and Education Committee on the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill, Mind Cymru rightly said that the new curriculum provides a unique opportunity to place the mental health of all our young people at the heart of their learning and school experience. Given that the pandemic has also had such an impact on children's mental health, can you...
Paul Davies: ...in England still don't recognise the qualification. Now, I very much support the Welsh baccalaureate and, of course, it's not compulsory in its nature. Can you confirm what guidance is issued to schools to ensure that teachers equally promote the full range of options to pupils post 16, so that students in Pembrokeshire and, indeed, across Wales, are able to receive the best possible education?
