Darren Millar: First Minister, it was back in December 2011 that the then education Minister, Leighton Andrews, made an announcement about £1.4 billion-worth of expenditure for the twenty-first century schools programme. That, of course, covered South Wales West and, indeed, other parts of Wales. Can you tell us how much has actually been released of that cash, given that we’re now five years into the...
Darren Millar: ...diagnose dementia. Secondly, there’s only one reference to children in the whole of your statement, and that’s in relation to the work that is being undertaken in terms of the structured education programme, SEREN, which, of course, is something that I welcome very much indeed. But there’s no other mention of children throughout the document, and, as you will know, children and young...
Darren Millar: ...spent elsewhere. Can I switch to another issue, which I know we’ve had some correspondence on, Cabinet Secretary, and that is the recognition of the Welsh baccalaureate qualification by higher education institutions, particularly over the border in England? You will know from the correspondence that we’ve exchanged that there are a number of universities that do not appear to pay...
Darren Millar: ...Democrat manifesto that this would cost around £42 million in order to achieve it. Wouldn’t that money be better spent on other priorities, such as improving the quality of teaching in our schools, to deliver better outcomes for our younger pupils?
Darren Millar: ...that no-one should be denied the opportunity to go to university on the basis of their background. We want as many young people who want to go to university to be able to access a university education. One thing that I’m very keen to hear from you on, though, Minister, is—obviously, there are people who are already embarked upon their university education, embedded within the current...
Darren Millar: There’s a thing called devolution; perhaps you haven’t recognised it. We have different policies in Wales than what our party has in England, because our education system’s different; Wales has different needs. Now, what I did say the other day is that we should never say never and never completely shut the door on any ideas. We’re not prepared to do that. You appear to be able to...
Darren Millar: ...have to say that, unfortunately, we will not be supporting the UKIP motion this afternoon because the Welsh Conservatives, frankly, recognise that Wales is different to England. We believe that the education landscape is different, and, as a result of that, we are not currently persuaded—[Interruption.] We are not currently persuaded that selection in our education system is the right...
Darren Millar: ...town halls working with you too. But, at the end of the day, it’s those stakeholders in north Wales—the local authorities, the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, the universities, the further education sector, the third sector and everybody around that table—that’s produced a plan that they believe is achievable and can be implemented if more powers are devolved to the region....
Darren Millar: ...’s a qualified teacher in any of those countries that form part of the EEA can come here and make a relatively swift transition to qualified teacher status. But, of course, there are many other education systems, many of which are more similar perhaps to ours than those in some parts of the EEA—Australia, Canada and some of the other systems around the world with similar standards to...
Darren Millar: ...that they have made, but one of the concerns that has been raised with me is that there was a document that was commissioned, a piece of work that was commissioned, by the previous Minister for education in relation to squashing the school week to four days, rather than over the current five-day period. That, of course, would create some turbulence in the childcare market, if we can call...
Darren Millar: ...t respond in this debate to the amendment that had been tabled specifically by Plaid Cymru. I know he said that he would be supporting it. But nor did he respond to the need to establish a medical school in north Wales. Whilst I know that there’s been some ongoing work, shall we say, looking at the feasibility of the establishment of a medical school up there, I think it is extremely...
Darren Millar: Minister, I’m very pleased to hear that you’re paying attention to this very important field, but what work are you specifically doing, or your officials doing, to engage with the education sectors—not just higher education, but also the further education sector—in maximising the potential benefits that precision agriculture can bring to the yields, particularly in terms of crops,...
Darren Millar: Leader of the house, can I call for two statements, please—one from the Cabinet Secretary for Education in relation to recognition of the Welsh baccalaureate qualification by universities across the UK? I’ve had a number of constituent cases this year where certain universities, and even departments within universities, are rejecting the baccalaureate as a qualification that is acceptable...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I’m encouraged, actually, by a lot of what I’ve heard, particularly in terms of your vision for more federation of schools and, presumably, not just in rural areas, but also in urban areas as well. I do think that that gives opportunities to teachers to develop specialisms and expertise that are more exciting for them as they embark on their...
Darren Millar: ...from his parents, and the father in particular. I think it does merit wider consideration, really, in terms of a whole-Government response, and the response of Welsh local authorities and our education and health services as well. So, I am pleased, Minister, that you are taking time to get that right rather than rushing into decisions, and that you are doing so not independently of your...
Darren Millar: ...? One of the concerns that many people have is that it will be inadequately resourced in terms of the outcomes that that Bill hopes to achieve and that that will have a detrimental impact on the education opportunities for individuals with additional learning needs. What resources are attached to this at the moment, appreciating the response that you already have given in respect of the...
Darren Millar: [Continues.]—on education matters here in the Senedd? [Interruption.] If Members are ready, I’ll continue.
Darren Millar: ...asbestos in some of our public buildings—and I know this is something that my colleague Nick Ramsay has championed in the past—in terms of the residue of asbestos that’s still in many of our schools here in Wales. This is something that we really need to be moving on to address now, given that many of these buildings have had asbestos in situ since the 1960s. Not to mention the fact...
Darren Millar: ..., one thing that you didn’t mention in your statement was the role that the uniformed cadet forces play across Wales in providing youth engagement opportunities and also in supporting many of our schools where young people would otherwise be not in education, employment or training—NEETs, completely outside the education system. You’ll be aware that there’s been a cadet expansion...
