Further Education

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:34 pm on 21 September 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:34, 21 September 2021

Llywydd, well, the wish to see parity of esteem between vocational and academic qualifications certainly is not the province of the Conservative Party. It was there in 1945, in the Labour Government's reforms to education in that era as well. I strongly support the belief that young people who choose to go into vocational courses, apprenticeship courses, as Jayne Bryant said, that those should be regarded as equally important and equally successful routes for those young people to shape their futures. And as for the Colegau Cymru proposals, well of course the new curriculum does provide, from the age of 14 onwards, equal access to both of those courses, and we will continue to work with the sector. I saw with interest the priorities that Colegau Cymru suggested to the new committee here, for its work programme in this area, looking at advanced technical and higher technical skills in the further education sector, to make sure we prepare young people for the new apprenticeships and the new vocational learning of the future in the industries that will emerge over the years to come.