James Evans: From the outset, it must be noted that there has been chronic underfunding from the Welsh Labour Government in our schools and education system. For every £1 spent in England, Wales receives £1.20. As a result, education spending per pupil in Wales should be at least £1,000 per annum more, compared to England. However, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, every young person in...
James Evans: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Powys County Council are looking at making education cost savings of over £1.7 million. Proposals for schools from the council include turning off laptops and ceasing photocopying. I'm not exactly sure how much of £1.7 million will be saved from stopping photocopying in schools, but this seems an inadequate way of treating our teachers and our children,...
James Evans: ...also to the people of Brecon and Radnorshire for electing me as their new Senedd Member. Thank you very much. First Minister, in my constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire and across Powys, small schools like Dolau, Llanbedr and Cradoc are under threat of closure. As someone who was educated in a small rural school, I understand the importance they play in our rural communities. So, First...
James Evans: ..., I would like to thank you for your answer. I was deeply concerned to read that the Liberal Democrats in charge of Powys County Council are considering forcing children to miss one day a week of school in favour of so-called virtual education. I'm sure you'll agree with me that this puts a huge amount of pressure on parents and pupils. And I hope you'll also agree with me—and I got that...
James Evans: ...I'd like to take this moment just to thank Joyce Watson for all her long-continued work in this area; she's an absolute champion for the White Ribbon campaign. Peer-on-peer sexual harassment in our schools is totally unacceptable, and it's happening up and down Wales. This was found in the recent peer-on-peer sexual harassment inquiry done by the Children, Young People and Education...
James Evans: ...the hard work, dedication, effort and love that our teachers showed us from our early years and then when we became adults. We all hold fond memories and perhaps not so fond memories of our time in school. It is a vital time in our lives when we learn so much, not just academically, but about social situations, forming bonds with other people and learning what is and isn't socially...
James Evans: ..., Minister. The Welsh Government do hold all the levers here to prevent the strikes, and it's time that the Welsh Government did take some responsibility for this, by, for example, not cutting the education budget in real terms and rising it in line with inflation. Under Welsh Labour, children in Wales are being left behind. Not only did they miss more school days than anyone else in the...
James Evans: ...prescribing, and actually getting GPs to more socially prescribe to make sure that our young people are accessing that to make sure it does help their mental health. But also, that needs to go into schools as well, to make sure that our schools are educating young people about healthy lifestyles to help their mental health. So, can you tell me what work you've done across Government to...
James Evans: ..., speaking in my own national tongue, and I think it's very, very important. I don't want to do some summing up, but it's very like what Heledd said, actually, about somebody who learned Welsh in school. It's what I did; I had a GCSE and got a B in my GCSE yn Gymraeg, and I still feel very angry about the fact that I cannot use and converse in my natural, native tongue in Wales, because...
James Evans: I'd like to thank Jenny for her intervention. However, we do need to start to learn to live with COVID. We don't put masks on in school for any other type of infection or disease that comes forward, so I don't think that is needed at the moment. And I echo the words of the shadow Minister for education, Laura Jones, who's been vocal against the decision by this Labour Government to make...
James Evans: Definitely, and thank you for your answer, Deputy Minister. It's very important that you work very closely with the Minister for education around that to make sure that our young people are educated in schools around that. And you talked about accessing support, and many of those young people who are struggling need the appropriate support through their troubles, but a lot of that, Minister,...
James Evans: ...we need to be bold here and actually try and be world leading in public procurement. Public procurement can add massive benefits to the local economy in terms of jobs and opportunities; also in our schools, providing locally sourced meals, educating young people on where their food actually comes from, and chapter 7 of the Bill, I think, is very, very important to do that in the wider...
James Evans: ...is an attractive place to work right across the country, both in urban and rural areas. We need a guarantee that all newly qualified teachers will get at least one year's employment in a Welsh school or college. In rural communities, teachers are an integral part of the local community, and they should be valued for the immense role that they have in shaping our younger generations....
James Evans: First Minister, many people, including myself, are rightly concerned about the health of our planet and the mental health of our young people. I remember when people of my age in school were shown a documentary on Al Gore predicting a doomsday scenario unless radical changes were made, and the world as we know it would be over in 2006. I'm glad to stay we're still here. However, this is...
James Evans: I'd like to thank you, Minister, for your statement today. A major, long-term strategic capital investment programme with the aim of creating a generation of sustainable schools is something that is important for schoolchildren across Wales, and very important for my party. Having sustainable learning environments is one of the most important things that can help children learn and achieve...
James Evans: ...COVID pandemic. Recently, the UK Government announced a further £2.5 billion, down the M4 from Westminster to Cardiff Bay. At the same time, my council in Powys is restructuring and closing rural schools due to the fact that they can't afford to keep them open. So, Minister, will you ensure in the budget that rural schools have additional moneys to ensure that the rural schools in my...
James Evans: Minister, I've seen the benefit of biometric data in schools, as a local authority councillor. It was introduced to help reduce the stigma around free school meals. When everyone is using the same queue and the same payment system, it does reduce the potential for bullying and harassment. However, some parents and children and rightly worried and concerned about the use of the biometric data...
James Evans: Minister, I've said in this Chamber on a number of occasions that I want to see brand new Welsh-medium schools right across Wales, and I'd especially like to see them in Brecon and Radnorshire. I'd like to know what assessment the Welsh Government has done on the cost-of-living crisis and the rise of costs of everything that is associated with building these schools, and what impact that is...
James Evans: ...dentist is extremely difficult, and even if you get a dentist, the travelling times to those dentists can be very lengthy. So, will the First Minister look at actually bringing mobile dentists into schools, so that we can actually have them in the school, so that they can get the check-ups they need to ensure that their oral health is in good condition, because we all know that good oral...
James Evans: ...mental health. It installs discipline, teaches teamwork and helps people to live active and healthy lives. So, Minister, will you look, in the future, at making more funding available for sport in schools and prioritise efforts to focus on allowing sport to play a bigger role in the curriculum, and work with external organisations so that they can come in to get more sport in schools?
