Darren Millar: Trefnydd, can I call for a statement from the Minister for Education on the use of face coverings in schools in Wales? I've been contacted by a number of constituents who've been very concerned that the schools are requiring them to wear face coverings all day in school, and of course that is causing a great deal of discomfort to many children who are having to wear them for the full period....
Darren Millar: Trefnydd, can I call for two statements this week, please, the first from the Minister for Education regarding antisemitism in Welsh universities? The Welsh Government and many public bodies across Wales have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, but it's of great regret, I think, that some Welsh universities are yet to adopt that definition. As...
Darren Millar: I move amendments 23 to 29, and amendment 19, all of which have been tabled in my name. The Bill in its current form is discriminatory, unfortunately, in that it places burdens on schools with a religious character across Wales that do not apply to those schools without a religious character. At present, schools across Wales either provide a religious education curriculum that has been agreed...
Darren Millar: At present, the Bill simply requires that the mandatory element of relationships and sexuality education is, and I quote, 'developmentally appropriate'. But, of course, this doesn't go far enough. Should it become law, the legislation would require Welsh Ministers to publish an RSE code setting out themes and matters to be encompassed by the mandatory element of RSE education in Wales. But my...
Darren Millar: ...the principle that children should be receiving teaching on sex and relationships that keeps them safe from harm and enables them to make informed choices? I also agree that there ought to be education that is appropriate for them in terms of menstrual education et cetera. But I fear that the Bill, as it currently stands, may be less able to deliver on these objective than it might be. My...
Darren Millar: ...in Wales on Welsh trunk roads. That would be absolutely devastating for people living in my constituency, who use trunk roads to get to and from their place of employment, to and from places of education like schools, and, indeed, for the tourism industry, which is absolutely dependent on people arriving from places on the trunk road network, such as the A5, the A55 and A494. I think it is...
Darren Millar: ...director of international relations at the Israeli ministry for health. The Israeli Government has a taken a conscious decision, because it wanted to get children and young people back into their education, to actually vaccinate teachers and other school staff in order to accelerate that opportunity to return them to the classroom. I think it would be useful to have a statement on whether...
Darren Millar: Our education system in Wales is based on the principle that parents, not the state, are the primary educators of their children, and that schools look after children, not on their own terms, but in loco parentis, in the place of parents and with parental permission. It's in recognition of this very important principle that parents have long enjoyed the right to withdraw their children from...
Darren Millar: ...events where fireworks are going to be let off? I think that these are useful things that could be done by the Welsh Government with its existing powers, and also, of course, there's the need to educate young people in our schools. We often talk about the dangers of fireworks in our schools for young people, but we don't often talk about the impact that using them has on other people. I...
Darren Millar: ...taxpayers' money is wasted there are opportunity costs, as Caroline Jones quite rightly spelt out. There's money that you can't, then, invest in our health service, that you can't invest in our education system and that you can't invest in Welsh infrastructure. So, it's absolutely right, when she said that we need to rebuild trust; we need to rebuild trust in a future Welsh Government to...
Darren Millar: I'm very grateful for that response, Minister, and very grateful for the funding that has been made available for home-educated young people. One of the challenges that many of those who have been home educated have faced over the past examination period is that obviously they're not at centres whereby grades could have been provided to them, and as a result, many are having to face the...
Darren Millar: ...place for learners who have extremely vulnerable people in their households who could be susceptible to COVID? I've got a learner in my own constituency who would like to continue with her post-16 education, but unfortunately her local college has told her that she must attend the college site in order to undertake the A-levels of her choice. As a result of that, she's not able to...
Darren Millar: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on support for home-educated learners in Wales? OQ55597
Darren Millar: ..., in my view, debating the constitution in Wales. Every hour that we spend debating the constitution and constitutional tinkering is an hour that we're not debating how to raise standards in our schools, in our hospitals and to make our economy wealthier. So, instead of rowing about more powers constantly, let's use the powers we've already got and let's improve people's lives with them....
Darren Millar: ...in Wales and, of course, of the need to improve access to resources to enable us to deliver on this ambition to develop 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050. I think these are wonderful aims, and our education system must be geared up to delivering them. A reference was made by Jenny Rathbone earlier to a recent meeting of the cross-party group on faith, and that cross-party group discussed...
Darren Millar: ...their theory tests, and the validity of those can expire before they're able to take the actual practical driving test, because of the coronavirus shutdown. And, of course, there are many driving schools with instructors on the English side of the border who are losing out to business to driving schools on the other side of the Welsh border, simply because of the current situation. The UK...
Darren Millar: ...in our towns across the country and villages across the country rely on much more than local custom in order to survive. Now, part of the key to reopening our economy is the reopening of our schools. We know that our Welsh Government did make an announcement that all schools would be open for four weeks from 29 June. They, of course, have given a hospital pass to local authorities, asking...
Darren Millar: Can I thank you for your statement today, Minister? I think many people will be very pleased that schools are going to be reopening. Can I just ask for a little bit more clarification in terms of the under-fives, and particularly those children that are nursery-aged children in school-based nurseries? What provision is going to be in place for them under these arrangements? And secondly, one...
Darren Millar: ...in spite of the fact that we've taken those leaps and bounds forward, there are still going to be some challenges. You've mentioned the digital issue already for young people, particularly, in our schools in terms of being able to continue with their education. But, obviously, there are lots of people who might be finding it difficult to continue with their work pattern because of the...
Darren Millar: ...there have been some achievements in Wales over the period of devolution and Dai referred to some of them: the carrier bag levy that we proposed on these benches, for example; the protection of school playing fields, which was also something that we proposed; the implementation of new legislation on mental health—also something that came from these benches too—which I would like to...
