Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 16 June 2021.

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Photo of Siân Gwenllian Siân Gwenllian Plaid Cymru 1:43, 16 June 2021

(Translated)

Thank you. I’m pleased that you recognise that it is quite a substantial amount of extra work in some cases. And there is funding in the system, because I’ve been made aware of a case where one secondary school is paying a great deal—around £100,000—to the external examining bodies, although they, of course, are not delivering the same functions in this year’s examination round. It’s important that the funding in the system is used or vired, where appropriate, in order to recognise the unique arrangements in place for this year.

Staying with the theme of school funding, I turn to the commitment in the programme for government, published yesterday, namely that your Government will fund up to 1,800 tutoring staff in our schools. Your written statement today—and I welcome that, of course—refers to retaining and supporting over 1,800 members of full-time equivalent staff, recruited under the Recruit, Recover and Raise Standards programme. Now, the word 'tutor' doesn't appear in your statement this morning, so can you confirm first of all that we are talking about the same thing here? Is the figure of 1,800 mentioned in the programme for government and described as tutors the same people as the teachers and additional staff that you mention in your statement? So, what kind of staff are we talking about here? Are they new staff and is the funding announced new funding, and will they be permanently available within the system, post dealing with the pandemic?