Elin Jones: Forty years ago to this week, in 1977, I left Ysgol Gynradd Llanwnnen, at 10 years old, to go to high school in Lampeter. Forty-nine years ago to this week, my fellow Member, Dai Lloyd, left ysgol Llanwnnen too, also to go to secondary school. This week, every child will leave ysgol Llanwnnen, and the school will close its doors forever. The schools at Cwrtnewydd and Llanwenog will also close...
Elin Jones: Last year, education resources were co-produced with young people and education professionals. These were later adapted for home learning due to the COVID-19 restrictions and they are offered directly to schools through the Hwb platform. Since the beginning of the autumn term, our education team has been delivering virtual sessions to schools and colleges across Wales and they will continue...
Elin Jones: The Commission provides opportunities for schools and colleges across Wales to come to the Senedd on educational visits. These visits, conducted with an educational officer, are two hours long and include a tour and educational session in Siambr Hywel. A travel subsidy of £1 per mile is available for visits from outside a 10-mile radius of the Senedd. The scheme has been in place for over 10...
Elin Jones: Thank you for that question. The pandemic has made it challenging to engage with children and young people, particularly through schools and youth groups. Regulations make it impossible for us to host schools in the Senedd or to visit those schools. So, for part of the year, the team focused on creating resources that education professionals can use themselves. However, since October, we have...
Elin Jones: Since 1 June, young people who will be 16 or 17 years old when the Senedd elections next year are held can register to vote. The Commission has created education resources to help young people to understand how our democracy works. These were available on Hwb—the Welsh Government's digital learning and teaching platform—ahead of the opening of registration on 1 June, and additional...
Elin Jones: The Assembly has delivered educational activities for hundreds of thousands of children and young people on the estate, in schools, colleges and out-of-school settings across Wales. Since its establishment in 2000, the team has delivered activities for primary and secondary school pupils and college students, aligning its services with the curriculum needs.
Elin Jones: The Senedd's education and youth engagement team engages with schools from across Wales to increase understanding of the Senedd's work. Since April 2021, over 5,000 young people and education professionals have engaged in our education sessions, which, due to the pandemic, have taken place predominantly online. Over the past year, our engagement work with young people has focused on raising...
Elin Jones: ...at Welsh general elections, giving them a voice on decisions that will define their future. It will help to nurture good citizenship in young people and will give an impetus to improve citizenship education. I very much hope that this is an investment in the future of our democracy. It's possible that lowering the voting age may also increase engagement in voting over the longer term, and...
Elin Jones: ...out across Wales and includes paid advertising, social media promotion and events. We are running adverts on social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube, and holding a range of events for schools, colleges and youth groups, and this will continue throughout April. And we, of course, worked with a broad range of bodies during the last week of February for Vote 16 Week, which showcased...
Elin Jones: Thank you for the question. Yes, you're perfectly correct that the expert panel was very strong in its view that political education alongside the right to vote were two equally important measures to take in enabling young people to take part in the democratic process. The Commission is working with the Welsh Government, the Electoral Commission and others, but in particular, in this aspect...
Elin Jones: The next item on our agenda is the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education on the national strategy for small and rural schools. I call on the Cabinet Secretary to make her statement—Kirsty Williams.
Elin Jones: The next item is the Welsh Conservatives' debate on school education, and I call on Suzy Davies to move the motion.
Elin Jones: The next vote is on the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (School Premises and Further Education Institution Premises) (Wales) Regulations 2020. Call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 40, no abstentions, 12 against, and therefore the motion is agreed.
Elin Jones: The next item, therefore, is the statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, an update on free school meals. I call on the Minister to make his statement—Jeremy Miles.
Elin Jones: ...we promote the new rights that young people now have to vote as 16 and 17-year-olds in Wales—adapting that to digital platforms that they are very well used to, either in social media or in the educational platforms that they are using every day now, is something that we are doing. As I said in my answer to Helen Mary, we are already placing our resources that are available to schools...
Elin Jones: ...people; there are others who can work with us and on our behalf to work directly with the young people that they work with, and the young people, of course, trust those sources, whether that's in schools or in external organisations. So, we're very keen, have been keen, to support efforts made by third parties to support us in our endeavours to ensure that young people are educated about...
Elin Jones: Thank you to David Melding for his observations on the Bill as it stands at this point. On the matter of votes at 16 and 17, the points that you make about all of education and citizenship awareness within education and young people's education—those were the exact points made by Laura McAllister's independent report in recommending that votes at 16 and 17 should be introduced in Wales, but...
Elin Jones: ...of Ministers, including the First Minister and the health Minister to share their experiences of coronavirus during the summer. And more recently, some Members held a session with the Minister for Education to share their views, and the views of other young people, prior to the Minister’s announcement on exams. And there will be a further session where some youth parliamentarians will...
Elin Jones: ...or know of them, or partner organisations in our constituencies and regions, to be developing this idea in their areas so we become advocates for this in our various areas. Our outreach work—our educational programme—is now geared up to working with schools, colleges and young people's organisations throughout Wales to be promoting the opportunities that are becoming available. But on...
Elin Jones: ...you'd agree with me, Janet Finch-Saunders, that, in the run-up to the election, a period now after Christmas that we all face, it's important that the sessions that the Commission holds, and that schools and others hold in schools, are politically balanced and include all political representation for that purpose. That's why the Senedd, in designing our and the Welsh Government resources...
