Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 13 December 2017.
Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. This is an area I've taken a special interest in, because I think one of the most rewarding periods I had was the 13 years that I was a primary school governor. But, regrettably, in that time, I did become aware of many vacancies that did exist at that time and I have to say, in the evidence that I've seen gathered here via written questions, et cetera, I think those vacancy rates have, sadly, increased across Wales.
I hear what you say about local authorities, as the local education authority, having the primary responsibility for promoting such roles, but, with the agenda change that you are putting forward as the Cabinet Secretary, obviously, you would accept that school governors have a critical role in supporting the teachers and the rest of the school family in promoting those changes. So, it is vital that we get people interested in the first place in school governorships and fill those vacancies. How confident are you that, working with local authorities, you will be able to arrest the decline in the number of people who are taking on the responsibility of a school governorship?