The following amendments have been selected: amendments 1 and 3 in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth, and amendment 2 in the name of Jane Hutt.

We now move on to item 6 on the agenda, which is the Welsh Conservative debate on the Programme for International Student Assessment, and I call on Darren Millar to move the motion.

Motion NDM6188 Paul Davies

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1. Notes Wales’ performance in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment’s 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment, whichwere published on the 6th December 2016.

2. Regrets that scores in reading, maths and science were lower in 2015 than in2006.

3. Calls upon the Welsh Government to develop a clear strategy with measurabletargets and a clear timetable to ensure improvement in PISA 2018.

Motion moved.

Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for the opportunity to move this motion today, and I want to formally do so on behalf of the Welsh Conservative group.

Last week, Wales received news of its results in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA as it is more commonly referred to. In advance of the publication of those results, the Welsh Government worked very hard to downplay expectations of any progress or improvement and, of course, once they were published, we all saw why. Those results, yet again, saw Wales languishing in the bottom half of the global education league table and they reconfirmed Wales’s shameful status as the worst performing school system in the UK—a title that we have held ever since our first set of PISA results back in 2006.

But what really makes these results all the more depressing than those of previous years is that PISA 2015 saw Wales perform worse than we did back in 2006 on every single measure—worse in literacy, worse in maths and worse in science. The results mark a decade of underachievement and a failure to make any progress, but that’s not the half of it. The results also showed us that there’s been a sustained decline in science skills since 2006, especially for the highest achieving pupils. A third of Welsh pupils were deemed to be low achievers in one or more subject—the highest of any of the UK nations. Welsh reading scores were on a par with Hungary and Lithuania, and pupils in England were seen to be three times more likely to be high achievers in science, reading and maths than here in Wales.

Whilst there was some comfort in that there was a smaller gap in achievement between pupils from the wealthiest and poorest backgrounds here in Wales, PISA actually suggests that this is mainly due to those more advantaged pupils simply not performing as well as they ought to be. Welsh pupils are doing more learning outside the school day than their English counterparts and yet still performing more poorly.

A litany of failure—failure by successive Welsh Labour-led Governments to raise our game, failure by education Ministers to turn things around, and failure by our First Minister to provide the first-class, world-beating education system that he promised them when he came to office back almost a decade ago. This is the sort of system, of course, that our young people deserve.

But, unfortunately, it’s very, very clear, from the results that were published last week, that the Welsh Labour-led Government that we’ve had here in Wales have not been getting it right. It’s for this reason that we’ll be voting for the Plaid amendment this afternoon, which believes that the failures are as a direct result of 16 years of inadequate Labour education policies. Although, I must say, I think it’s a bit rich of Plaid Cymru to try to pin all the blame on the Labour Party, when they were actually in coalition with the Labour Party for four of those years in the last decade. Now they’re crying crocodile tears, but it would have been better, frankly, if Plaid Cymru had made a bit more of a difference around the Cabinet table when they had a Deputy First Minister and many other Cabinet Ministers. So, why don’t you take some of the blame today when you stand up and make your speech? I’ll be very interested to hear what you’ve got to say. You need to acknowledge your role in those failures and apologise for it.

Previous poor PISA results, of course, have given rise to lots of tough talking. We’ve heard it all in this Chamber: we’ve heard promises to do better from the First Minister and previous Cabinet Secretaries, yet, in spite of this, the results published last week and the Welsh Government’s response to them do nothing, I’m afraid, so far, to give my party any confidence that we’ll see improvements any time soon. Instead, we’ve been told that Wales needs to hold its course and that we need to give reforms a bit more time to bed in. But the problem is that the Welsh Government has had a decade since similar results back in 2006 and yet we have seen failure upon failure to deliver the sea change in results that we all want to see.

Now what many commentators simply cannot understand is how it is that countries like Poland have been able to turn their education systems around in less than a decade, but the Welsh Government appears not to have been able to do so. Poland, of course, is a nation that had similar PISA results back in 2000 to ours in 2006. Yet it managed to improve its results by 2009 to become one of the top-ranking nations. Of course, they not only got up there in 2009, but they’ve maintained that performance ever since. They’ve managed to do so in a country that is larger—much larger—than Wales and where making changes is arguably much more difficult and, of course, they have a similar post-industrialised nation that they are dealing with.

But, of course, while Poland was making rapid progress in the first decade of the twenty-first century, Wales was looking elsewhere for inspiration under the previous education Minister, Jane Davidson—of course, she was looking towards Cuba. You couldn’t really make it up, could you? But that is where she was seeking inspiration for the future of the Welsh education system. Now, fortunately, we’ve moved on since G.I. Jane and, instead, now we’ve had other Ministers in place.

The current round of reforms to our curriculum, of course, were largely inspired by a nation that is somewhat closer to home—Scotland. It’s now six years since Scotland introduced its new school curriculum, much of which Wales is now seeking to emulate. But let’s just consider the results of their reforms for a moment. In last week’s PISA results, Scotland recorded its worst ever results on record—worst results in literacy, maths and science. Its ranking as a nation has been falling like a stone—from eleventh on the PISA ranking for reading in 2006 to twenty-third last week, from eleventh to twenty-fourth in maths, and from tenth to nineteenth in science. The proportion of Scottish children deemed to be performing below standard in science and reading has spiked since the last PISA tests in 2012, with the scores for both boys and girls dropping significantly, except, amongst girls, for maths. So, it’s no wonder that the Scottish education Secretary, John Swinney, has suggested there that the system is in need of ‘radical reform’—they were his words, not mine.

The Cabinet Secretary and others will no doubt attempt to suggest that Wales’s reforms are very different from those in Scotland. I accept that there are some differences. But no matter who we’re trying to kid, no matter who we’re trying to reassure, we know that our reforms are similar and that the author of those reforms is the very same author.

I’m not arguing that we need to abandon the reshaping of our curriculum here in Wales or that we shouldn’t continue with some of the other measures and actions that have been taken in the past around the literacy and numeracy framework. We don’t need to abandon those. But what is clear from Scotland is that these things alone are not going to deliver the sort of change in PISA rankings that needs to be delivered here in Wales. We cannot completely ignore these facts and carry on as usual. In our opinion, there needs to be a period of reflection and to ask honestly whether the Welsh Government’s planned reforms really are the best vehicle to move Wales forward, particularly given the Scottish experience. We believe, Cabinet Secretary, that it’s time to push the pause button on the curriculum reforms and take time to take stock of where we are.

I acknowledge that there’s a great deal of goodwill and support for curriculum reform and the sort of approach that we’re taking here in Wales, but we all—all of us in this Chamber and all of us who have a stake in our education here in Wales—need to be confident that the reforms that we are pitching for, and that we are aiming for, are going to make the sort of improvements that our schools and our education system need to see. I’m afraid that the evidence from Scotland suggests that that reform alone, even in conjunction with some of the other actions being taken by the Welsh Government, is not going to be enough.

Now, I’ve seen the Government amendment today. It asks us to note, and I quote,

‘the OECD’s reflections following its return visit to review the Welsh education system that many things are in place now that are putting Wales on a more promising track.’

But I ask this question: how on earth can Assembly Members note the OECD’s reflections when they haven’t been shared with us? We are yet to see written reports. We are yet to see any conclusions. We are yet to see any findings or recommendations that have emerged from that snapshot review. So, it’s a bit premature to ask us to note those things if we’ve been unable to have any sight of those things. That’s why we’ll be voting against the Welsh Government’s amendment today.

So, instead—just to be clear—what we’re calling for from the Welsh Government today is a clear strategy with measurable targets that will sit alongside these other pieces of work, which are already ongoing, to turn this performance around—and not by 2021; we want to see some improvements by the next set of PISA results in 2018. If Poland was able to do it, then I don’t see why Wales can’t either. We don’t want to just see improvements in one subject. We want to see all three of the PISA subjects—science, maths and reading—making progress. That’s what our young people, that’s what our children, deserve: nothing less than that sort of improvement. We need some very clear targets that, unlike previous targets, aren’t scrapped, but targets that are actually adhered to. We saw Leighton Andrews make a clear target that we should be in the top 20 by 2016. We’re not. So, it was abandoned before we realised the opportunity to even hold Leighton accountable to that target, because, of course, he’s not here. That target was abandoned by his successor, Huw Lewis, who replaced it with yet another target: this time to score over 500 in the PISA test, but not until 2021, which was conveniently after he had stepped down from the National Assembly.

So, we can’t keep kicking this thing down the road for other people to deal with in future Assemblies. We need to be accountable here in this particular Assembly to make sure that we make progress by 2018, and, yes, then again by 2021. We need policies to be introduced that are going to allow successful schools to thrive and to grow—those schools that are popular and that are going to work in partnership with the professions, the teaching professions and all the other stakeholders in our schools—to deliver the sea change that we need to see in terms of PISA. We’re not going to do that unless we’ve got a strategy with a timetable and clear targets.

So, our poor performance—let’s be clear—cannot continue. It will have consequences if we don’t deal with it, particularly for our economy and for future generations. We believe that we need to be ambitious and bold with our solutions, looking to the sort of excellence and the sort of achievement and the ground that has been made elsewhere in places like Poland and other nations around the world. We’re looking to you, Cabinet Secretary, for action, and for this reason I urge Members to support our motion today.

Thank you very much. I have selected the three amendments to the motion. I call on Llyr Gruffydd to move amendments 1 and 3 tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Amendment 1—Rhun ap Iorwerth

Add as new point 3 and renumber accordingly:

Believes that this is a result of 16 years of inadequate Labour education policies.

Amendment 3—Rhun ap Iorwerth

Add as new point at end of motion:

Urges the Welsh Government to pursue reforms to the curriculum, initial teacher education and teachers’ professional development.

Amendments 1 and 3 moved.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I move the amendments officially? PISA, of course, unfortunately, has reminded us once again that Wales has performed worst of the UK countries, that the scores in terms of reading, maths and science are worse in Wales than they were 10 years ago, and that Wales is further behind the UK average in those three areas as compared with 2006.

And, as we say in one of our amendments, that shows the record of Labour—there has been an unbroken line since devolution of Labour education Minister after Labour education Minister, and, 10 years after that first failure, we are still waiting for the necessary reforms to be put in place. I have to say that some of the demands made recently to repatriate powers to Westminster and overturn devolution for education actually miss the point entirely. Because, if a football team is at the bottom of the league, then you don’t move stadium or ask to play in another league. What you do, of course, is sack the manager and change your players, and managers usually—[Interruption.] No, I’m not going to take your intervention; I have a lot to get in in five minutes. But managers in that situation usually take responsibility for the situation, something that the First Minister, of course, has refused to do. Yes, he has said that the results are disappointing. Yes, he’s said that he’s confident that they will be better next time. But, of course, that’s exactly what he said the last time, and I have reminded the Cabinet Secretary that, the last time we had these disappointing results, she asked the First Minister, in 2012, if he was ashamed of the results. Well, shouldn’t he be even more ashamed this time, because of the failure once again?

Yes, there are more fundamental reforms in the pipeline. It’s regrettable that it’s taken 10 years to get to this point. We know that it will take four or five years before those reforms are completed, never mind, of course, seeing the impact that one would hope to see in terms of the PISA results. One does feel, in such a situation, that this is a last throw of the dice. So, it is crucial that we do ensure that the right changes are put in place. It’s not necessarily a quick change, I accept that, but we have to be confident that we are on the right track. And it has to be a change that is owned by the sector if it’s to succeed. And that is something I’ve already raised a number of times with the Cabinet Secretary in the context of these reforms, so I won’t rehearse those issues here.

But, as we’ve heard, one can take some hope from other nations and look at the record of a country like the Republic of Ireland, which has performed very positively this time. Estonia is another nation that I’ve read about this week that has turned around their performance. We don’t have to emulate Singapore and China and move to a culture of working unacceptably long hours. Finland has some of the shortest study hours, both in school and out of school, and yet they are performing well. It’s not necessarily funding that’s the solution, either. There are countries that spend more on education and don’t perform as well, and there are countries that spend less and perform better. One lesson that I take from the Estonian context—and it’s interesting to note that teachers there usually have a Master’s degree, and of course Plaid Cymru has consistently said that, if we want the best education system, then we have to get the best educators, and, in our manifesto and since then, of course, we have been explaining how we want to do more to attract the best candidates into teaching and ensure that continuing professional development for educators in order to create that culture of continuous improvement. We talk, of course, about the status of the profession, improving training, giving more freedom and responsibility to teachers in deciding what they teach. We talked about creating a teachers’ premium, too, for all teachers who have a Master’s degree in educational practice or a comparable level of skills. That teachers’ premium would assist in attracting and retaining the most talented in the teaching profession, and also retain good teachers in the classroom, because we are losing too many of those in the current climate.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

Now, they say that 30 points in terms of PISA scores corresponds to a year of education. If that is the case, and I don’t doubt it, then Wales now is almost a year behind our attainment in 2006 in terms of science. So, given that measurement, Wales has fallen back a year in 10 years, and that, unfortunately, is the legacy of education for Labour in Wales.

I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Education to move amendment 2 tabled in the name of Jane Hutt.

Amendment 2—Jane Hutt

Delete point 3 and replace with:

Notes the OECD’s reflections following its return visit to review the Welsh education system that many things are in place now that are putting Wales on a more promising track.

Recognises that to drive up standards there must be an emphasis on leadership,teaching excellence, equity and wellbeing for learners.

Amendment 2 moved.

Formally.

Formally. Paul Davies.

Diolch, Lywydd, and I'm pleased to take part in this debate this afternoon and highlight some of the ways I think we can help our learners achieve better standards in Welsh schools.

There’s no doubt that we are all extremely concerned and disappointed by Wales’s PISA figures last week. Despite the hard work and professionalism of teachers across Wales, the figures show that Wales is simply not where we’d like it to be in terms of international benchmarks.

Now, I accept that the Welsh Government is pursuing a reforming agenda in education and that changes are taking place in terms of reshaping the national curriculum and qualifications. However, there is still work to be done to create the right environment for learners in Wales to provide stability and therefore improve standards.

I want to concentrate my contribution this afternoon on the importance of stability in our education system and the key role local authorities also play in improving standards in our schools. The Welsh Government, of course, needs to provide strategic leadership in improving standards and we must see a clear strategy being developed and measurable targets being set. But we must also see that leadership trickling down to local authorities, who are ultimately responsible for delivering education in our communities.

The Cabinet Secretary will be very aware of the shambles of a reorganisation that we’ve seen taking place across Pembrokeshire. It goes without saying that the key objective of any school reorganisation plan must be to improve education standards for children and young people. If not, then what exactly is the point? In Pembrokeshire, there have been countless consultations on school reorganisations across the county and the whole process is not only deeply worrying for learners and parents, but it clearly has an effect on educational outcomes.

Given the emotive nature of school reorganisation, even if the closure or reorganisation doesn’t eventually materialise, announcing such proposals with apparent disregard for the standard of education provided sends a negative message to pupils and parents that cutting costs is a priority and retaining quality is not. We’ve seen examples in the past where good schools have closed and it’s that sort of action that does nothing to protect or enhance school standards. Indeed, the constant to-ing and fro-ing of which schools will close and which will stay open has created such an instability for communities in my own constituency that it’s no wonder Wales isn’t achieving better results against international benchmarks.

In a report published in May 2012, Estyn stated that—and I quote:

‘Any school reorganisation strategy should set out to improve standards. School reorganisation programmes should be primarily about school improvement rather than a resource management exercise that is separate from the interests of learners.’

That very report recommended that the Welsh Government work with local authorities to develop and promote good practice in evaluating the impact of school reorganisation schemes. Well, I’m afraid that the Welsh Government simply hasn’t done enough to evaluate the impact of school reorganisation in places like Pembrokeshire and the effect the changes would have on learner outcomes.

School reorganisations, like in my area, that have been complicated and worrying for local communities are a significant part of the problem. Surely, the Welsh Government in future must play much more of a role in overseeing school reorganisations because Governments can’t allow local authorities to ignore parents, teachers and pupils’ wishes and to issue consultation after consultation— which has taken years in our case in Pembrokeshire—while, in the meantime, children’s education and future are being put at risk. No wonder we’re not improving standards.

There are plenty of other levers at the Welsh Government’s disposal that would make a real difference to learner outcomes. I fully accept that the Welsh Government has taken some steps in terms of school leadership at head level and senior management, but perhaps there’s merit in also looking at the role of school governors, who also have a role to play in terms of promoting high standards. Indeed, perhaps the Cabinet Secretary could outline in her response to the debate whether that is something she is currently considering and what her assessment is of the role of school governors in helping to deliver better standards in our schools.

Llywydd, all Members here were disappointed with last week’s PISA results. Ultimately, we all want to see the same thing: a flourishing education system that delivers for our learners and results in an improvement in educational outcomes. I don’t envy the Cabinet Secretary’s position, because I think we all recognise that the scope of work that’s needed to improve educational standards is significant. It comes by firstly acknowledging where there are weaknesses in our system and then identifying ways in which we can change that system for the better.

We, on this side of the Chamber, will work constructively with the Cabinet Secretary to implement meaningful solutions to help deliver real outcomes for our learners and, therefore, for our society. I therefore urge Members to support our motion.

Can I start by saying education clearly is one of the most important gifts we can give to our children? As such, we must give it in the right manner and ensure it gets there well. The Programme of International Student Assessment—as Darren said, the long term for the short PISA, as we always know it—provides us with a comparator for student performance in reading, maths and science, but we should also note that it’s actually not about imparting the knowledge that the tests are about, it’s about how we use that knowledge. It’s about the critical thinking, the investigation, the solutions, the way we communicate those solutions; it’s a wider picture than just imparting knowledge. And perhaps we need to look at that aspect of our education system when we do our teaching.

But before I comment further on, perhaps, PISA, I don’t want to lose sight of some of the achievements we actually have done, because I haven’t yet heard some of the facts: that last year we had record levels of GCSE performance here in Wales. In my own constituency, in Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, record levels of GCSE results have been achieved. These are results that demonstrate our students are delivering to the qualifications that we aspire them to achieve, and they are achieving qualifications that will get them into placements for jobs or further and higher education. And we are seeing those standards increase. And it seems that we have taken PISA—and I’m not going to decry it—but we seem to have taken PISA as the be-all and end-all, without considering, actually, that there are other things we are delivering. Let’s recognise those things as well.

I also want to, perhaps, talk about some of the programmes we’ve put into place. I will look at Schools Challenge Cymru. We’ve seen that programme run and it has been successful, and I want to give credit to Huw Lewis, who saw it going through. I must say I’m a little bit disappointed that we’re seeing it come to the end of its life, and I would ask the Cabinet Secretary whether she will look at the next phase, or another phase of that programme, because it has delivered in areas. I think it helps the teachers who are identified through the categorisation programme, in schools where there is a lower, red categorisation, to be able to benefit from the experience and expertise, perhaps, of others. And I think it’s important that we ensure that, where there’s good practice, we share that good practice. And that’s what it was doing.

I also wanted to highlight the fact, of course, that the attainment gap between the free school meals and non-free school meals has narrowed, and I think Darren did mention that PISA did actually spot that. We give, perhaps, different reasons for it, because of what PISA said, but that gap is narrowing, and there are achievements. What we tend to forget, sometimes, when we talk about A* and A* to C, is that people who attained a D or an E have gained something that they may never have expected, if teaching is good. We are raising the platform. We forget the value added given to many of our pupils in our education system, and that those pupils are actually exceeding their potential because of some of the teaching they get. We often forget that. For far too long, we have worked on the point of how many A*s does a school get, not what did the child achieve, has the child realised their potential, and have they exceeded their potential. And sometimes the outcomes we measure aren’t always the best things. We need to look at how we do that, because we are in a world where there are varying levels, and we need to focus on all levels of the education system and see what we can ensure can be achieved by our children.

I’ve got time, so I’ll go back to PISA, which I know has already been mentioned. And I agree with everybody; those PISA results are not acceptable. They are well below what we would want, they do not put Wales where we want it to be in the global market, and they remind us of the journey we still have to take in that area. And the journey, actually, is similar to those in other UK nations, all of which saw their scores go down in at least two of those subjects last week. I do believe we’re making progress in this area, and we did see the largest increase in the UK in maths, for example. Could that be down to the numeracy framework that was introduced? The literacy and numeracy frameworks came in as a consequence of some of the decisions based on the 2009 and 2012 results. So, we are introducing programmes.

Now we also—. Darren, actually, perhaps rubbished, in a sense—at least that’s what I felt it was—the changes to the curriculum. Now, I believe Donaldson is the right way, because it is changing that way of critical review of thinking, of problem solving, of looking at how we can take knowledge and use it. That’s what Donaldson is about, and I think that’s the curriculum for the twenty-first century. [Interruption.] Of course, Darren.

Thank you; I’m grateful to you for taking the intervention. I didn’t rubbish the new curriculum that we’re trying to introduce in Wales. I just asked us to pause and reflect on whether similar curriculum reforms to those that have taken place in Scotland, which have failed to deliver against the PISA measure, are the right approach here in Wales. I think we need to reflect seriously on that.

I think the reflection and consideration that was taken by Donaldson—. I think it’s important that we, when we discussed it—I did say in the discussion we’ve had that most people actually accepted that Donaldson was the way forward at the time. I want to see us go forward.

I’m conscious of the time, Llywydd, so to finish: we have a clear direction of travel, with an emphasis on leadership, an emphasis on teacher excellence, the well-being of learners—let’s not forget that—the equity for our learners, a collective responsibility and delivering a twenty-first century curriculum so our young people can live in a twenty-first century world. Those who know education know that such policies do not happen overnight; they take time to bed in and we want to ensure that they have that time. So, I would follow the advice of the OECD. I would suggest we stay the course and continue our journey to ensure that our children and our grandchildren in the future will have a good education system.

Firstly, I must say it gives me no pleasure to be contributing in a debate where we once again discuss the Welsh Government’s spectacular failure to deliver a first-class education system in Wales. After a broken promise from the First Minister and his Labour Government, education in Wales once again finds itself in dire straits. After 10 years of broken promises, a decade of underachievement has left Wales behind every other country in the United Kingdom, with Wales having the greatest proportion of low-achieving pupils across the United Kingdom.

In science, Wales lags behind the rest in terms of low achievers, with the greatest proportion of 15-year-olds operating below level 2. In maths, Wales remains a critical underperformer compared to our friends in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Sadly, in last week’s PISA results—the Programme of International Student Assessment—the smallest countries like Singapore and others were at the top of the world, and look where we are. The fifth richest economy and we are below 10. We are not even in the top 10. Sadly, last week’s PISA results show that 23 per cent of 15-year-olds were defined as low achievers in maths—nearly a quarter of students. Presiding Officer, it is simply unacceptable. Wales’s average maths score is also significantly lower than the scores of the rest of the United Kingdom with a difference of around 15 test points—equivalent to around half a year of additional schooling—while in reading, Wales’s performance again falls dramatically short of other UK nations. It is a scandalous state of affairs where we now sit on a par with countries such as Hungary and Lithuania.

Today, thanks to the Welsh Government, over one in five Welsh students lack the required reading skill to function in the workplace. This stark statistic emphasises the sheer scale of challenge facing young people in Wales, not just in their education, but in developing the necessary skills suitable for our employers in Wales. When speaking to employers in various industries, they frequently raise concerns with me that they struggle to find graduates with the right skills or right work experience. With the latest PISA results in Wales, you can see why our education system must improve. Firstly, we must create a society founded on high literacy. This is vitally important in driving positive economic reforms. At present, the worrying trend is that the reading of Welsh pupils is preventing such progress. Delivering a first-class education system will have hugely positive consequences on our economy and it is crucial this is recognised by the Cabinet Secretary and Welsh Government together. That’s why it is vital the results are not downplayed and they are tackled head-on by the Welsh Government.

In my own region of South Wales East, we already have elected councillors from the Labour Party in Newport saying that these results have to be taken with a—their words—pinch of salt. What a joke. They probably need some PISA exams also. [Laughter.] [Interruption.] Let’s be clear, such rhetoric is unacceptable and we cannot allow a lost generation of Welsh students. We are losing a generation here, Minister. Your change of curriculum—definitely there should be some sort of investment in our teachers. Because what other nations that have achieved in the education system have done—they have invested in their teachers. First class degree holders only can teach to the teachers, and—I haven’t got time, David, but go on. [Laughter.]

I do appreciate you giving the time. Do you therefore recognise that the introduction of a Master’s in professional practice for teachers by the Welsh Government is the right step forward to ensure that the qualifications at the levels you’re talking about are actually there?

I agree with you that teachers should be highly qualified to teach other teachers. It’s a very good old saying: what you pay, you get. A car is a car, a Rolls-Royce is a car and a Mini is a car. You pay the best price, and you get the best result. Anyway, I agree: we must invest in our teachers. And ignoring these results, putting our heads into the sand, will only amplify the standards we have witnessed in the Welsh education system.

Presiding Officer, Welsh Government have been in charge of education for over 17 years. There are no excuses, there is no hiding place either. Pupils, parents and teachers across Wales deserve better, and only Conservatives can deliver it.

Oscar—on fine form this afternoon. I suppose, in joining this debate, when we had the PISA statement, I was a little shy of being overly critical because of the way the statement was framed. Yes the results were bad, yes the trend was declining, but the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development had issued this report that told us to stay the course, and we shouldn’t worry about that and we should just keep ploughing along with what the Welsh Government was doing. It was only following that session that I found there wasn’t a report, or at least not as it was suggested. I found this report, ‘Improving Schools in Wales—An OECD Perspective’, which was from 2014, and 143 pages long. I think the OECD is a little slow with some of these reports. These are the 2015 PISA results we’re looking at. It’s the first time they’re been administered by computer. I think it would be helpful if the OECD could perhaps get out their comparisons on a more speedy basis, and they did. But on the 2014 report, I wonder, actually, whether this report, or whatever the communication is that Welsh Government’s received, is really much different. It has a degree of balance in what it says—I’ll take an intervention.

Thank you for taking the intervention. There is a report, it just hasn’t been published yet. Will you acknowledge that whatever the challenges we face, your solution of reintroducing grammar schools in Wales is simply going to make matters worse?

Our policy on grammar schools is one of a number of policies. I think it is really unacceptable for the Welsh Government to use, as a shield for this—I think everyone agrees—deeply unsatisfactory set of PISA results, a report that it will not share. How can we sensibly respond to the statement, or take part in this debate on even terms with the Government, if they have a report they cite in defence that other people can’t refer to because it hasn’t been published? Now, the 2014 report had a series of balanced comments; it had positives and it have negatives. I note in this amendment today, the best the Government can say is:

‘many things are in place now that are putting Wales on a more promising track.’

And I’m sure they can cherry-pick and when it’s published we will see some positive comments, but I suspect there are also a great deal of negative comments.

I noted the comments from Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted in England, when these results came out. He said that Scotland and Wales were dragging down the UK performance. But he went on and said that Welsh education is paying the price for abandoning standard assessment tests. He says:

‘I remember when the Welsh Government took away all the accountability measures that we have in England—SATs, testing and so on—and that was disastrous, absolutely disastrous and Welsh education is paying the price for that.’

I think we should take those words seriously, and I hear about the changes in the curriculum. I just wonder whether those changes in the curriculum are as suggested by the Government—that the changes are going to turn around Welsh education performance—or, actually, whether they are part of a trend that we see in the deteriorating performance. I notice the comparisons made with the Scottish approach, where we’ve seen perhaps how that is now impacting on their PISA results, and this increasing divergence of both Wales and Scotland from the English performance in education, which has actually been on an improving trend in some areas, notably London—[Interruption.] I won’t take a further intervention—where they’ve had really very strong performance. I wonder, actually, if there is something for Wales to learn from that. We had from Plaid the comparison that to do that, we would be moving a stadium, and they would prefer to sack the manager. Actually, instead, why don’t we rejoin the league and actually have some accountability, by assessing what school performances are and publishing those data rather than hiding them?

I had an exchange with the education Secretary on this, but she says that key stage 2 results should only be used to assist or look at how particular pupils are doing. She’s happy, to credit her, to use the PISA results to assess how the system may be changing, and tells teachers that they should take them seriously. The Welsh Government also publishes comparisons between local councils. Would it be wrong for those councils to look at, for example, the key stage 2 results of their primary schools in order to hold them to account and to try and drive improvement? And if it would be okay—[Interruption.] No, I will not. If it would be okay for councils to do that, why is it wrong for parents to do that? Why should these data be suppressed and only allowed for Ministers and Government officials and those in the bureaucracy, rather than actually putting it out there so that other people can judge, and so that when schools succeed, they know that it will be advertised, and so when they fail, they know it won’t be covered up? If we had that system, perhaps we would actually begin to turn these results around.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate today on a motion, in fairness, that is merely pointing out the obvious, really. Last week’s PISA results were deeply, deeply disappointing, and I think across the political spectrum in this Chamber, all Members—. David has made the point today about how unsatisfactory and upsetting, I would suggest, those results were, because we’ve had Minister after Minister coming to this Chamber from the Labour Party, who have been the Cabinet Secretaries or Ministers for the first 17 years of devolution, and in light of poor performances in the past, have given assurances to this Chamber. I merely repeat some of those assurances that were given, first by Leighton Andrews, who talked in 2010 of honesty, leadership and a new approach to accountability. And he set the goal for being in the top 20. That was ambitious, but at least it was a goal for the whole of the Government to work to. You can’t criticise anyone for being ambitious, and surely a Government sitting here in the first couple of months of its term should be setting out clear goals of what it wants to achieve when the next set of PISA results are taken in 2018. That is what our job as the opposition is now—to try and understand exactly where the Government are going, in light of the results that we had last week, with their education policy. We’ve seen Schools Challenge Cymru put to one side, which was a cornerstone of the previous Cabinet Secretary/Minister’s education challenge, shall we say, to schools, and yet that has been pushed to one side because it doesn’t fit the purpose of the new Cabinet Secretary—and that’s your role, obviously, to set out the education strategy of this Government. I do hope that the Cabinet Secretary, in responding to this debate, will shine more light on the road map forward now that will actually get our standards moving up the league table, because we are still behind where we were in 2010, with reading and science falling back, and maths—a welcome uplift, but it really had nowhere else to go, to be honest with you. If that’s what the Labour Party are celebrating, we are still behind in maths where we were in 2006. So, that is hardly a pat on the back, is it? In fairness to Huw Lewis, who was sitting at this front bench here, immediately in that chair there, he said:

‘I expect to see the impact of our reforms reflected in the next set of results. They’re ambitious and I believe they will have a lasting, sustainable and positive effect on education in Wales.’

Those were his words, in fairness, and we took him at his word and we believed that those reforms would make the—[Interruption.] I’ll take the intervention in a minute, Lee—difference that would see the school standards improving, and when we are benchmarked against the 0.5 million pupils across the world who take these tests in 72 countries, Wales would start to be doing better. I’ll take the intervention.

I just want to make the point that we did improve in maths. I think it’s only fair you recognise that some progress has been made.

I’m sorry if you might not have been listening, but literally 10 seconds ago I made that very point, I did, and really it couldn’t have gone much lower, so if that’s what the Labour Party are celebrating about their strategy for education then poor you, because, as I did say in my remarks, we are still behind in maths where we were in 2006.

So, I go back to the gambit that I put down in my opening remarks: this Government is at the start of its mandate. There is now definitely a new test coming in 2018, a new PISA set of tests, that will be taken by pupils across the length and breadth of Wales. Surely we will get some clarity over how the Government expect Welsh education to perform and the goals that the Cabinet Secretary will set for Welsh education.

I do have to say—. And I regret that Llyr didn’t take the intervention because he talked about—you know, you don’t change the team, you don’t actually move the stadium: you sack the manager. Well, I have to tell you, Llyr, you’ve been keeping the manager in place here, you have. You keep voting time and time again to keep the manager in place.

And it was—we celebrated, or commiserated, depending which way you want to look at it—the First Minister’s seventh anniversary, last Saturday, in office. Rightly, he pointed to education being a critical component about driving Wales forward and empowering communities the length and breadth of Wales. He used the words ‘the key to success’. He hasn’t even got the key, let alone knowing where to put the key in the door on this one, because the performance, time and—good God, I’ve got them all up—time and time again—[Laughter.] I’ll take Rhianon, if I may, then, because you’ve had a chance—.

Thank you. Will you acknowledge, when you say that maths results are worse, that you’re talking of OECD system processes, and will you acknowledge the hard work that teachers the length and breadth of Wales have undertaken to actually improve level 2-plus data on GCSEs? They have improved and they continue to improve, as A-levels are continuing to improve and you’re bringing the whole of that progress into disrepute. We have much to celebrate on an onward journey forward and the—[Interruption.] If you don’t mind—the OECD themselves—

This is an intervention and you’ve made your intervention—

And the OECD have acknowledged—

No. Andrew R. T. Davies.

I do regret you using the word ‘disrepute’. This morning, I travelled to three schools across my region to celebrate Christmas with the kids there and the teachers and the excellence that’s going on in those schools, but you cannot—. [Interruption.] What are you saying about time? You cannot deny the lamentable record of Welsh education when it is benchmarked between 72 countries across the globe and 0.5 million—. And I read out the quotes—this isn’t opposition politicians who have set these benchmarks and set these goals. These are Leighton Andrews, the former Minister, and Huw Lewis, the former Minister—your colleagues themselves. So, it is Labour who have failed; it is not the profession, it is not the pupils. And as my education spokesman spoke earlier, when you look at the record of Labour in Government, you can go back to the source of the outset of devolution and Cabinet Secretary Jane Davidson and the goals that she set. [Interruption.] I’ve given an intervention—we’re on six minutes—so we heard what you had to say. Instead of pointing the finger at the opposition, I’d ask you to point the finger at your front bench and your First Minister and question him more about whether he’s got the solution for Welsh education. I hope that you will support the motion on the order paper that actually points to what is going on when Wales’s education is benchmarked internationally.

I’ll declare an interest as somebody who has 25 years’ experience, in the classroom and outside of the classroom, in teaching. If we go right the way back to 1997, I think it was a really positive thing for the Labour Government to legislate to bring class sizes down to 30. But really, since 1999, I think what we have in Wales is a legacy of failure. Each education Minister clearly—clearly—has failed the children in Wales. I’m pretty unhappy with lots of discussion about targets so on and so forth, because quite often targets just give politicians ammunition to have debates like this, and you quote percentages and so on and so forth. I think what we need to do is take politics out of the classroom. What we need to do is ask ourselves: what do we want from our education system? What do we want? What is excellence? Let’s define what we mean by that. What are higher standards? What do we actually mean?

For me, the rot really set in in education when the Conservatives introduced the market into the system. I’ll give you an example: awarding bodies competing—

[Inaudible.]—Neil—

I can give way, if you like.

There’s no request—. Yes, there is a request to give way.

Since devolution, it has been the Labour Party, with your party and the Liberals, who’ve run education here in Wales, and have a responsibility for these results. I’m not quite sure where you get the Conservatives from.

Okay. I’m coming to that. The idea of the market—. For example—. I’ll give you an example of awarding bodies. You’ve got several awarding bodies all competing for business. What’s the natural thing to do? To make passes easier. And then, when you’re sat in a classroom with other teachers, you will choose the board where you’re more likely to get a pass. That’s the problem with the market. [Interruption.] I’m not going to give way anymore, now.

What I would like to see is a commission for—[Interruption.]

Order. Can we just listen to the Member, please?

What I would like to see is a commission for education, because, with the best will in the world, you’re not going to solve the problems of the education system over the next five years. So, what you need to do is sit down with people from every political party, teachers from all over Wales, all different sectors, and discuss what people want and where we want to go. In terms of being a teacher, it’s very simple, really: good buildings, resources and letting teachers teach. What we could have is a system of mentorship instead of punitive inspection. We need greater investment in special educational needs. Music, drama and physical education, they shouldn’t be cut, they should be invested in.

I think we should be radical as well, in terms of cutting class sizes, because I’m actually a fan of cutting class sizes. What we should be looking at is not one or two; if we want real results, we should be looking at cutting class sizes to 20 or 15, like they have in Finland.

Just one other thing in terms of education generally. If you look at the criminal youth system, one thing that magistrates and judges cannot do is give extra time for tuition. If you look at prisons, there are huge issues there as well with literacy. It all comes down to the bottom line of schools having actually failed people. If you look at 20 per cent of the people who are unable to read properly, unable to describe themselves properly in writing and say what they want, you know, it’s a real, real scandal.

In finishing, I also want to flag up very briefly the scandal of supply teachers being paid poverty pay, while you have agencies like New Directions creaming off a massive percentage. What that actually does is take away millions and millions of pounds out of the educational system that should be invested in our children and in our schools. Diolch yn fawr, thank you.

I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Kirsty Williams.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. We have had a full week since the PISA results were published, but that doesn’t make them any easier to digest. I’ll underline what I said last Tuesday. The results are bitterly disappointing; they are simply not good enough. We are not yet where any of us—parents, policymakers, teachers and pupils—would want to be. As I said, again, last Tuesday, nothing that anybody can say in the Chamber today can make me feel personally any more disappointed with those results.

It’s perfectly natural to demand immediate changes following disappointing results such as the ones that we have had. I get that. I understand that. But I also know that it is the very last thing that pupils, parents and teachers need right now. I know that because, Mr McEvoy, I do indeed spend a great deal of my time talking to front-line teachers, headteachers, support staff, parents and governors. What they do need is someone to make the tough, but right, decisions. They need a Government that is strong enough to continue with and prioritise the reforms that will turn things around.

The OECD’s PISA tests are respected around the world, and rightly so, regardless of what some may say in some other Chambers. Therefore, what must also be respected is the OECD’s analysis. Their 2014 report shone a spotlight on Wales’s system. It revealed our strengths, but it also didn’t pull any punches when it came to our weaknesses. Since that time, that report has guided Government reforms and has supported my identification of priorities, such as leadership. When taking the role as Cabinet Secretary, I invited them back to cast their independent analysis on my and our priorities and progress. That, Darren, is exactly the type of ‘pause and reflect’ that I think that you have talked about this afternoon. Their message to me was clear: we are on the right track and we must stick to our ambitious plans. I will heed that advice.

I appreciate the comments that people have made about the fact that that report is not, at the moment, available. I expect to receive the full findings of the OECD’s report in February, and I will, of course, make that public—

Darren Millar rose—

[Continues.]—not just to Members here in the Chamber, but to the wider world.

I’m very grateful, Cabinet Secretary, for your confirming you will make that document available, but surely, before today’s debate, you could have at least made some of the summary of the findings available, which, clearly, are already in your hands.

We do indeed have initial feedback from PISA, but I'm not in a position to publish that because it’s their report and they want to publish the full findings, and I will do that in February.

With regard to the amendment, the quote in the amendment from the OECD is not a quote from the report. It is a quote from the statement issued by the OECD last week to the public. That’s the quote in the amendment today; that’s not a quote that is in any report that is yet to be published. It is in the statement that the OECD released last week on the publication of PISA.

Wales’s national PISA report, written by the Institute of Education, sets out that our maths and reading results are stable, but stable is not good enough. Our maths scores, since the last round of PISA, saw the biggest increase in the UK and of the higher performing countries that scored above 450, only four countries saw a bigger increase in maths over this period. The OECD, in their statement, have said that this is encouraging. The Government has successfully implemented the numeracy framework. We have reformed our GCSEs so that they properly assess the skills that we want our young people to have and that our economy so desperately needs. This momentum must continue, which is why I have established a new national network of excellence for mathematics, creating a network that involves schools, universities and the regional consortia working together.

The national literacy framework alongside the national reading and numeracy tests are the foundations for improving literacy and numeracy. These set high expectations, but I will continue to work with schools and the consortia to focus on reading, oracy and numeracy. I am particularly concerned that we reflect on reading and oracy. That has to happen before children actually go to school, which is why, across Government, we are working with parents of our very youngest children to help them develop the oracy skills that their children will need when they go into school at first.

Our science scores were particularly disappointing and there is a great deal of work that must be done. During my time as Cabinet Secretary, we will up our game on science GCSEs, going forward with rigour. I make no apologies for exposing the cynical and far too comfortable focus on BTEC. This was an easy way out that did not properly equip our young people.

Cabinet Secretary, will you give way?

Yes, of course.

I thank you for taking the intervention. Will you also focus science on the primary school sector, because if the enthusiasm that children get at that age to take it on to the next sector is important, we need to enthuse our teachers about science?

David, you make a really good point, and in the new year, I will be making a further announcement on plans and funding that will target and promote teacher development and learning excellence in science and technology across all age groups.

The PISA results showed Wales could and should be doing more to support more able and talented pupils. A new capped points score, a move away from BTEC and a new network of excellence for mathematics: all of these changes, and others that we are now introducing, will test our pupils to ensure that each one reaches their full potential.

I welcome Plaid’s amendment that we should pursue reforms to the curriculum, initial teacher training education and teachers’ professional development. These are central to my plans. This is a forward-looking reformer’s contribution, unlike the other Plaid amendment, which, unfortunately, prefers to look backwards and attempts to airbrush out the One Wales Government.

I also heard the comparison with Scotland’s reforms. Yes, we learn from Scotland and other systems, but we do not slavishly follow them. If there are lessons to be learned and pitfalls to be avoided, believe me, I will. For example, we are undertaking major curriculum reform alongside assessment reform. The one goes hand in hand with the other, and through our pioneer schools we’re putting the teaching profession at the centre of our reforms and supporting them with external expertise. We are setting clear expectations and responsibilities for each tier within our system.

Initial teacher education is crucial to our ambitions, where teaching will, of course, be fit and ready for a reformed education system, and it should be a clear expectation for those who enter the profession that they are dedicated to their own professional lifelong learning and professional development. In a fast-changing world, how can anyone be the finished article of teaching? We will, again, look to see what we can do to implement a two-year and four-year qualification.

There is no doubt in my mind, Presiding Officer, that leadership is essential and fundamental to high-performing education systems. That is why, last month, I announced the establishment of a national academy of educational leadership. It’s an important step forward and plugs a gap identified by the OECD report in 2014. Now, more than ever, in this period of reform, Wales needs strong leaders who are up for the challenge and leadership at all levels. Paul, you’re absolutely right: local education authorities and consortia must do their bit, as must governors. As you will be aware, we are currently out to consultation on reform to governance regimes—an area of reform that, unfortunately, has stalled in recent years.

Llywydd, to summarise, the PISA results were not good enough, but I don’t have time for endless hand-wringing. There is work to be done instead. There are no quick fixes, but we must focus on leadership. We must focus on teaching excellence. Equity and well-being must be at the heart of all that we do. Previous PISA results have had to be described as a wake-up call. Wales is no longer in that place. The simple truth is that we know the reality of where we are. I know the reality of where we are. I also know where we are heading. Our national mission is one of education reform, and it is one that I and this Government will deliver.

I call on Angela Burns to reply to the debate.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. David Rees said that education is a gift, but I think that education is actually a fundamental right. Because without a good education how can the child grow into an adult with a good education and with the capability to contribute to their own lives, to the lives of the people they know and love, and to the lives of our country? And how will our country grow and develop? And how will our culture be sustained if we don’t have a well-educated population? So, I say that education is a right.

These PISA results have once again reminded us that we are not where we need to be. Neil McEvoy, I would like to say to you that ‘The Learning Country’—that’s where it all started to go wrong. Because if you take away absolutely every single benchmark and standard assessment, then you are casting teachers adrift in a desert, in the dark, with no stars, no sextant, no compass, and no wonder that when the daylight comes everyone is in a very different place. That’s what started to go wrong.

I believe that we have an opportunity to put that right. I believe that we need inspirational leaders. We need outstanding teachers, we need decent facilities, and we need an engaged and happy student body. We need a curriculum that is fit for today—a curriculum that isn’t wedded to the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s or the 1980s, but actually suits the 10-year-olds, the 14-year-olds and the 16-year-olds of today. So, I have no problem with the fact that we've looked at Donaldson—there is much to commend it—but I think that Darren Millar's point about pause and reflect is very key, because Scotland are sliding, and some of the ones who've always done well—Sweden, other countries—are not doing so well. We need to look, we need to benchmark. So, inspirational leaders, excellent teachers—and, let's be clear, not all of our teachers are excellent. A lot of them are, but the ones who aren't are dragging the other ones down and making their jobs so difficult. We need continuous professional development, schools that children enjoy going to, an educational system that grabs their attention and holds it for their entire school journey, and we need to be able to benchmark and assess. Poland can do it; we can do it. If anybody can do it, this country of ours can surely, surely improve our education system.

Donaldson could well be the way forward, but, you know, if you're on a dark road at night and you know it's the way forward, but you suddenly glimpse a sign that says there could be a cliff ahead, the wise person just pauses and checks that that way is ahead. We do not want a repeat of ‘The Learning Country’. We do not want to lose this opportunity. Why? Because the saddest thing is a child or a young person who leaves school at 16 and they do not have enough qualifications to go and get the job that they want to do, they cannot get a job that's good enough for them to have a happy family life, to have their own kids, to get their own house, to do all the things that we all want to do—go on holidays, the rest of it. And that comes down to the fact that they do not have a good education.

Presiding Officer, I would also just like to say one more comment. We have to remember that just under a quarter of our children, Minister, have additional learning needs. No wonder. No wonder. We have to bring them into the fold. Thank you.

The proposal is to agree the motion without amendment. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I will defer voting under this item until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.