David Rees: ...the fact that you're now looking after FE as well as the other aspects and your comments earlier today indicate that you're keen to ensure that FE remains the jewel in one of the crowns of the education sector in Wales. But, clearly, many of those programmes and access to lifelong learning, which provides opportunities for people to go further on in either education, training or...
David Rees: 4. What discussions has the Minister had with further education institutions on delivering greater access to lifelong learning? OAQ53143
David Rees: This afternoon, I'll put my contribution into two parts, and the first part will be based upon my role as Chair of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee. And I'm pleased that we've already had comments from Jane Hutt and Mark Isherwood, reflecting upon some of the work we've done since we were established, following the 2016 referendum, with the purpose of considering the...
David Rees: ...are many people out there who need access to those access courses, to return-to-work courses, to get them back into the opportunity of working. That is an area sometimes we forget about—the adult education aspects, which bring that person back into the world of educational learning and give them the enthusiasm to move on and gain work places.
David Rees: What discussions has the Leader of the House had with the Cabinet Secretary for Education regarding funding to support ethnic minority and Gypsy Roma and Traveller learners?
David Rees: First Minister, one of the biggest challenges for children with additional learning needs in education is actually getting the additional learning needs recognised. I've had many families who are facing tireless fights just to get that recognition for their child so that they can go through the processes. Now, I appreciate that the additional learning needs Act will actually give them...
David Rees: .... We've got the problems in the town; we can give you the history; we can show you that pollution did not ease up in the town. In fact, it got worse, because, as young children were walking to school, they had queues of cars and vehicles alongside them emitting all this pollution, breathing in at ground level. Will you look at this and tell the authors of this they should not have put that...
David Rees: Cabinet Secretary, I've read the code that was laid on Monday. In it, it has a designation of rural schools for the purpose of presumption against closure, and it uses the Office for National Statistics' rural and urban classification, which I accept, and that's why the list on the back is there. But when you then go and look at the extra, detailed requirements, I ask the question: why...
David Rees: Will the Cabinet Secretary outline the Welsh Government's policy on providing robust community-based education to children across Wales?
David Rees: Leader of the house, can I ask for two statements from the Welsh Government? The first one relates to education and it's linked to the decision by Neath Port Talbot council to close Cymer Afan Comprehensive School. We had a recent statement from the Cabinet Secretary relating to closures of rural schools and the consultation and the outcome of that. Clearly, I would like to have a definition...
David Rees: ...a very important point about how we develop it, and you answered quite well. It's not just about nurses and not just about doctors; it's a wide range of staff. Can you assure that Health Education and Improvement Wales covers that wide range of staff, and, if we are talking about new equipment, we also have the additional staff to resource that new equipment? Because a positron emission...
David Rees: I accept that point, but I think it's also fair to accept that the roads are far more dangerous than they were when you and I were going to school, and drivers themselves are not always aware of what is on the pavements today. So, it's not just one, it's a combination of things.
David Rees: I thank the Member for taking the intervention. I accept there are schools that are in some of the conditions you're talking about, and they should be on either band A or band B of the twenty-first century schools programme, but do you also accept the fact that there are brand-new schools being built? I've got three comprehensives in my own constituency, plus two new primaries, which are...
David Rees: ...to offer associate membership of these bodies to the UK, or a type of relationship that can exist afterwards. We also note the important and valuable role that co-operation in the fields of education has played, most notably through the Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ programme. We believe that it would be mutually beneficial for Wales and the EU to continue to collaborate in these areas post...
David Rees: Cabinet Secretary, the Welsh Government has put a tremendous amount of capital into the twenty-first century schools programme. You have seen in my constituency Awel y Môr and Ysgol Bae Baglan, which are two brand-new schools operating and three new schools due to be operating in September, Ysgol Cwm Brombil, Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Dur and the new Briton Ferry primary. However, there is an...
David Rees: ...actually get something under way. So, how is the Welsh Government taking this forward, not just in Technocamps, because that's limited, but how are you going to push so that every teacher in every school who is delivering the curriculum in computer science has the skill to actually deliver coding, and make sure it's coding in a particular language that is applicable across all of Wales, so...
David Rees: ...a collaborative approach from training providers through to businesses, to ensure the next generation will learn the skills in the future. It's important that skills development starts in our schools, and if we are to have a robust policy for our Valleys, we must ensure that the educational needs are delivered within them, ensuring that this vital aspect of social cohesion remains in the...
David Rees: ...latter half of the twentieth century, many well-documented challenges have arisen around employment opportunities, transport and infrastructure as well as inequalities across health, well-being and education. Whilst these challenges exist and must not be ignored, they do not define the Valleys. The strong sense of culture and community endures. However, that is now at risk. The challenge...
David Rees: ...of the learner and the well-being of the learner, which I fully support. But, of course, the well-being of the learner also depends on the well-being of the communities the learner lives in and is educated within, and, as has been pointed out, Cymer Afan is actually proposed to be closed with pupils transported and transferred a distance of over 10 miles. The experience they have of...
David Rees: ...way. Our second recommendation called on the Welsh Government to publish its research on the impact of various Brexit scenarios on the Welsh economy, and we are pleased to read the Cardiff Business School's analysis of the impacts on larger businesses in Wales. In the Welsh Government's response, I note that further research is currently under way. I'd like to place on the record the fact...
