Darren Millar: ...those specifically, but what about aunties, uncles, grandparents and any other members of the extended family, who may well be registered and licensed, delivering high-quality childcare and early education? They also, I think, ought to have the opportunity to participate in this scheme and to be funded to participate in the scheme. Concerns have also been raised about capacity within the...
Darren Millar: ...eligibility for free childcare to those who are in the workplace, in order to maximise the opportunities for people to get back into work and also provide child development opportunities and early education opportunities for those children. I think it's absolutely right that you're seeking to fulfil that ambition.
Darren Millar: First Minister, in common with other parts of Wales, children in my constituency have also been affected by the withdrawal of the school uniform grant. I listened carefully to what you suggested was going to take place, i.e. that there's going to be a successor grant, but, of course, this existing grant, which has now been withdrawn was withdrawn without any consultation whatsoever with key...
Darren Millar: First Minister, one group of young people who often miss out on a university education are those from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds. And you'll know that part of the reason for that is their poor performance at GCSEs compared to their peers. They get 30 per cent lower in terms of the individuals who actually pass five or more CGSEs at grades A* to C. Now, one of the things which your...
Darren Millar: Well, I think it's—. Local decision makers obviously have a part to play in this, but on top of that there have been some decisions by the Welsh Government to take certain grants out of the education funding landscape. We've seen this with cuts to the minority ethnic and Gypsy/Traveller grants, for example, which are having a huge impact right now across the whole country. But, of course,...
Darren Millar: ...I thank the Chair of the committee for opening the debate and summarising so well all of the themes within this report on such an important topic? The Chair's absolutely right: the success of our education system is down to the quality of the teachers that are in it, and I know that this is something that we all, across this Chamber, feel passionately about. I have to say that I was a...
Darren Millar: ...that we have an ambassador for the Muslim community here in the Assembly in Mohammad Asghar, who is passionate about these issues. You referred earlier on, leader of the house, to religious education in our schools, and the role of our schools in helping to educate the next generation about the merits of tolerance and respect here in society. One of the things that has been raised in this...
Darren Millar: First Minister, I was intrigued to hear your response there, because you didn't mention the positive contribution that the further education sector is making to encourage STEM careers and STEM learning. Will you congratulate me, for example—.Will you congratulate Coleg Cambria rather [Laughter.] and me for raising it? [Laughter.] Will you congratulate Coleg Cambria, for example, for the...
Darren Millar: As you know, you have redistributed the education improvement grant—the minority ethnic achievement grant element of that—into the revenue support grant for local authorities, and they claim that they can find no trace of it within the lines within the budgets that they have been given by the Welsh Government. They reckon that around £13 million has gone missing from...
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, research shows that the Gypsy/Roma/Traveller community have the lowest attainment rates of any ethnic group in Wales when it comes to their education. Tell us, why did you scrap the education improvement grant, which was designed to support and increase the attainment rates amongst this particular group?
Darren Millar: ...remind ourselves that, yes, we've had some improvements, but we must never forget the failures, really, of successive Labour Governments, in recent years, to get to grips with the problems in our education system across Wales. We know that our PISA results, back in 2016, were worse than they were a decade before. We know that last year, we saw our worst GSCE results for a decade. We know...
Darren Millar: ...Is this going to be a sustainable thing? You said you want to do some research as well. It's going to take probably more than two years to be able to follow and track these individuals through the education system, and if you're picking up youngsters pre GCSEs and taking them all the way through to the end of their A-levels, that's a four-year period. So, how on earth is simply committing...
Darren Millar: Leader of the house, one thing that is very important is, of course, to make sure that there is childcare provision in the school holidays, and, indeed, outside of the school holidays. What consideration has the Welsh Government given to the concerns that have been expressed by the future generations commissioner and, indeed, the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years about...
Darren Millar: ...is, as I pointed out earlier, that the apprenticeship levy has already been devolved to you. You've got the money for the apprenticeship levy—that's £400,000-odd—then, in addition to that, the school liaison officers—you've got £388,000 that you're planning to whip away from the North Wales Police force in 2019. That is your decision, not the UK Government's.
Darren Millar: ...that cash is not being released to the North Wales Police force and the other police forces in Wales to enable them to upskill their workforces. Secondly, I will also pick up on the point of the schools liaison officers. It has already been made in many respects. Now, the view of the Welsh Government is that in future the new curriculum will be able to pick up the work that is being done...
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, in 2015 when the new Wales-only GCSE qualifications were being mooted and going to be introduced, my colleague Angela Burns, the then shadow Minister for the education portfolio, said that it was a short-sighted decision and that there would be adverse consequences for learners. It's now 2018, and I'm afraid that some of our concerns are...
Darren Millar: ...view, addresses many of the concerns that have been raised in this Chamber on a number of occasions about ensuring that there is adequate support available to parents and other guardians who home educate their children. I'm pleased also to hear you, on behalf of the Government, reaffirming your commitment to the right of parents to home educate their children, to take them out of the...
Darren Millar: ...can be done on that front. One other opportunity, as well, Minister, that you haven't referred to is the ability to reap some benefits from the public sector broadband aggregation scheme. I've got schools in some of my communities with fantastic broadband speeds, and none of the properties around them can benefit from those speeds because they're not allowed to connect somehow to the...
Darren Millar: Can I call for two statements from the Cabinet Secretary for Education, please? It was reported widely in the media yesterday that, last year, teachers from 16 of the 22 local authorities had reported incidents of racism. I'm sure you would be very concerned about that, leader of the house. Also, there's been quite a spike, of course, in religious hate crime that has been recorded in Wales....
Darren Millar: I'm particularly interested, Cabinet Secretary, in the research links between universities and schools. You'll be familiar, because of your visit to Ysgol Pen y Bryn, in Colwyn Bay in my constituency, with the strong links between that school and Bangor University in terms of research into mindfulness and the development of the Paws b curriculum there. What can we do to establish more of...
