3. Statement by the Minister for Education: Curriculum and Assessment Reform: A White Paper on Proposals for Legislative Change

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 29 January 2019.

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Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 3:09, 29 January 2019

Can I thank you, Minister? You're quite right, this is going to be a sea change for Wales, but there's always a risk with a sea change that people might end up drowning. And while, of course, you have the full general principle policy support of everybody in this Chamber, I hope, the big test of all this is going to be what is deliverable practically, and will it deliver the results that we want to see. 

We're actually talking about a piece of legislation here, so I'm going to mention that very much in this context. I was pleased to see that the overarching principles—and have been for a while—are clearer than what we have in existing legislation at the moment. You want to move away from a prescriptive system. I believe you when you say that, and we as Welsh Conservatives of course have always said that we want teachers to be free to teach and that we shouldn't have over-prescription here, but, of course, that comes then with a greater responsibility on visible accountability. The quality of teachers and teaching, which I think is probably the greatest factor—I probably won't talk too much about that today, though—and an improvement of standards in attainment, in achievement, that young people themselves believe to be valuable, as well as what Wales as a society believes will be valuable for us as a nation, and particularly for our economy.