David Rowlands: ...of local government, with 22 local authorities reduced to eight. It could be said that this never came about because the Labour Party is in hock to the trade unions, who oppose such reorganisation. Education in Wales has an appalling record over the last 20 years—countless schools in special measures and, as in Torfaen, even the local education authority was placed in special measures....
David Rowlands: ...make any necessary funds available. Both organisations will be crucial to our economic recovery. Recommendations 7, 8 and 9 deal with upskilling the workforce. I agree that it is vital that further education, higher education and universities must engage fully with any Government initiatives in the sixth Senedd, and also with the business community in general. The initiatives with regard...
David Rowlands: ...Jones are largely ignored. The Welsh Government says it is committed to a zero-carbon economy in Wales and that active travel is to play a significant role in achieving their goals, but a policy of school centralisation will, as Caroline Jones pointed out, almost undoubtedly negate the ability of our schoolchildren to engage in either walking or cycling to school. Not only are we...
David Rowlands: ...the consequences of that would be civil unrest. First Minister, you are targeting and devastating the hospitality industry yet again, and your own statistics show the real source of infections is schools, care homes and hospitals. Please, First Minister, I beg you, on behalf of the hospitality industry and the economy in general, to end this massively damaging carousel of lockdowns and...
David Rowlands: ...the new curriculum trial supported it? Most of the teachers that I have spoken to say that if the curriculum is entirely driven by the four purposes, much of the content associated with traditional school subjects in the areas of learning and experience become largely redundant. If, on the other hand, teachers prioritise the areas of learning and experience, then the four purposes are...
David Rowlands: ...services to sustain everyday life, this regardless of the social status of the consumers. The delivery functions would be carried out be a number of local participants—local authorities, health, education, welfare services and local infrastructure projects—together with utility providers. All should be major contributors to the foundational economy. If we add to these food production...
David Rowlands: ...with most innovative ideas, be likely to create both positive and negative outcomes. In the first instance, if we examine the benefits of such a payment, people would have the freedom to return to education, giving them a greater chance of better work opportunities. More would be able to stay at home to care for a relative. This has the potential to give considerable savings to the huge...
David Rowlands: What immediate action is being taken to reduce the number of secondary schools in special measures?
David Rowlands: ..., because it gives us all in this Chamber the opportunity to scrutinise the evidence against which the 20 mph is to be implemented? I wish to state at the outset that I support 20 mph limits around schools and other vulnerable places. I of course acknowledge that none of us wish to see anyone killed or indeed injured on the roads of Wales, and if the evidence were definitive, then I would...
David Rowlands: Since devolution, statistics have shown that the Welsh education system, once the envy of many, has become—and I make no excuse in using this hackneyed phrase—a race to the bottom. We can therefore well understand the current education Minister's desire to drastically improve the standard of education now being achieved in Welsh schools, and it is true to say that the tenacity and sheer...
David Rowlands: ...Plaid Cymru for bringing this important debate this afternoon? We will be supporting all of Plaid's motion. Rugby is the national game of Wales and unlike England, where much is based on its public school system, it is a sport of the working classes and it is a grass-roots sport in Wales. If the BBC is to be a true public service operator, it is incumbent upon the institution to retain...
David Rowlands: ...entering care due to alleged parental or family abuse and neglect. It is an unfortunate fact that, compared to their peers, looked-after children generally have poorer outcomes in relation to education and mental health, as has been mentioned several times earlier, with many experiencing isolation and continued vulnerability whilst in care. Despite some improvement in the care system, many...
David Rowlands: Could we have a statement, Minister, with reference to comments about the new education curriculum by a number of academics and educationalists? Chief amongst these are the Welsh Local Government Association and the National Association of Headteachers Cymru. Both contend that the challenge in implementing it is enormous. This follows on from the Association of Directors of Education in Wales...
David Rowlands: ...businesses. This necessity for access could be for such essential things as benefits, tax queries, energy facilities—even access to doctors' surgeries and job applications. Local authority and schools notifications are increasingly using digital communications. Schools are also using the internet to facilitate homework, et cetera. This affects those children from poorer families, where...
David Rowlands: ...that making some political gain out of the occasion or the actions outlined in the statement would be totally inappropriate. I would therefore like to simply say that, having attended the Holocaust Educational Trust event in the Senedd on the fourteenth of this month, I was completely and utterly moved by the courage of Mala Tribich in giving her testimony, especially when she described...
David Rowlands: Minister, can we have a statement from the Minister for Education on the parlous state of a number of schools in the South Wales East region? We understand that there are five schools in special measures, three in need of significant improvement, and five where progress is under review following Estyn inspections. Could we also have a statement from the First Minister on the announcement by...
David Rowlands: ...not just for the family themselves but for society as a whole, because we know that if families are being moved from one area to another, as Mike Hedges has pointed out, it doesn't help with their education and many other things, and, of course, the health of those families as well. So, it impacts on that side of the argument as well. So, at the beginning, I congratulated the Government...
David Rowlands: They can, of course, be done by the authority directly itself, if that is the case at this moment in time. It is the schools and the teaching professionals who run them who know best where to spend the funds available. They are in the best place to decide priorities. Let's put our trust in these professionals. I was told by a headmaster some years ago about the inflated costs he faced when...
David Rowlands: Can I thank the committee for this report and can I say that we will be supporting the motion? Funding our schools, as with our NHS, has always been a controversial issue, but, as with the NHS, we cannot fail to ensure that our education system receives adequate funding. Whatever financial pressures our local authorities are under, school budgets are not the place to make cuts. Only by...
David Rowlands: ...a better skilled workforce for the future. Can I ask, however, what progress has been made by local authorities in developing skill pathways by integrating vocational training into the wider education system?
