1. Will the Minister make a statement on the support provided to deaf young people in education in order to improve their chances of employment? OAQ55258

Our educational reforms are designed to ensure that all learners with additional learning needs receive the support that they need to access the curriculum, and I believe that this will help equip deaf young people with the skills that they need to reach their full potential.

Thank you for that reply, Minister. You will no doubt be aware of the publication of the National Deaf Children's Society's report, 'Deaf Works Everywhere', which seeks to get more deaf young people into work and jobs that inspire them. Unfortunately, many deaf young people believe their career options are limited. With the right support, however, we know that deaf people can work everywhere, yet they are twice as likely to be unemployed as their hearing peers. 

In response to the Deaf Works Everywhere campaign, what further action are you prepared to take to ensure better careers support, more work experience and volunteering opportunities, and challenging the expectations of what deaf young people can achieve?

Well, you're absolutely right, Dai, in that we should never put any limitations on any of our children and young people because we have a misconception about what they can achieve. Obviously, that is at the heart of our additional learning needs reform programme, to ensure that all children with an additional learning need leave our education system with the qualifications, skills and experience that they will need to go on into further education, or into the world of employment. 

I am aware of NDCS's youth advisory board's recent report on young people's experiences of the careers advice across the UK. Here in Wales, we know, and we're actively engaged in a process to reform our careers support assistance, and I will be very keen to work with NDCS Cymru to be a part of that. Our current careers and the world of work framework highlights the need for learning providers to reduce environmental and social barriers to inclusion, and we continue that as part of our reform of our careers and information and advice. Clearly, apprenticeships should not be closed off to any young person who could benefit from that, and, as a result of your question, I'll undertake to work with Ken Skates's department to oversee our apprenticeship programme, to see what more action the Government can take to address these issues. 

Can I start off by saying that my sister is profoundly deaf? So, I have an interest in this. But, if you are deaf, you are less likely to be in paid employment; if you are in paid employment, you're likely to be low paid, and you're likely to have few, if any, qualifications. The one thing that would improve this is improving the situation of British Sign Language, treating it and making it a GCSE subject comparable to Welsh and English, because, for the deaf community, British Sign Language is their first language. And we need to ensure that other children know the rudiments of British Sign Language as well in order to communicate with them. 

We've had a petition in from Swansea, promoting British Sign Language, and there's a lot of correspondence taking place about British Sign Language. But the reality is that unless we support British Sign Language, and support its teaching, and support children with it, children are still going to be less well off. 

Thank you, Mike, first of all, for your questions, but for your continued advocacy on behalf of the BSL-speaking community. We are working with BSL teachers, and other stakeholders with experience and expertise in BSL, to develop curriculum guidance for BSL for children who use BSL as a medium of education, and/or as their first language, and guidance for those schools introducing BSL as a third or subsequent language, in addition to Welsh and English. This guidance will be available before schools begin implementing the new curriculum, and I know that there is interest in schools to ensure that they can provide BSL within their new curriculum. 

We recognise the need to do more to develop a co-ordinated approach to the promotion and support for BSL, and are giving consideration to a national charter for delivery of services and resources for deaf children, young people and their families.