Group 1: Climate Crisis and Ecological Emergency (Amendments 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:36 pm on 2 March 2021.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 4:36, 2 March 2021

I also met some representatives of Teach the Future, and like most young people, they are extremely concerned, as they should be, about the environment. But I think that Llyr's amendment is misguided, because I think he misunderstands what the curriculum Bill is actually doing, which is to provide a framework for what teachers need to teach, rather than telling them exactly what they've got to teach. So, I was encouraging those young people to talk to the consortia, who advise teachers on how they're going to fulfil the obligations to create the enterprising, creative contributors of the future, to ensure that they are ambitious learners with an ethical, informed understanding of our place in world. I really think that the amendment is just watering down that ambitious framework that we have created with this Bill, ensuring that teachers are able to use their pedagogy to ensure that the way they're going to teach fits the needs of their individuals pupils. I absolutely share the enthusiasm of the young people and their commitment to ensuring that we are not contributing to the problems that we now face, and that we're tackling them effectively, but I think that these problems need to be debated by school governors to ensure that all our pupils are realising just how serious the climate emergency is.