Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 12 February 2020.
Thank you, Llywydd. We are aware that recruitment and retention of teachers is a challenge in Wales, and in other nations too, and there are a number of reasons behind this, and we need to tackle the problem in a number of different ways. Welsh Government statistics show that 40 per cent less than the target set for trainees in the secondary sector are in place, for example, and recent reports by the Education Workforce Council demonstrate that there are more assistants than teachers in our schools now. Now, I know that you're highly aware of this problem, which has been discussed over a period of years in this Chamber, so, how confident are you that we will see this situation improving over the next few years?