Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:38 pm on 10 November 2021.
Many thanks, Minister. The majority of people I've spoken to, it's quite the opposite that I'm getting.
A damning new report last night, which was released by the National Association of Head Teachers Cymru—another union, Minister—has highlighted the impact of the chronic underfunding of Welsh schools. 'A Failure to Invest: the state of Welsh school funding in 2021' provides troubling examples of the ways teachers have been forced to cut expenditure to balance budgets in the face of Labour cuts. More than three quarters of school leaders said that they do not have sufficient capital funding to maintain their buildings; almost 92 per cent reported funding for pupils with special educational needs in their school is insufficient; and 94 per cent reported that the additional learning needs funding they receive is not sufficient to meet the needs of the new ALN legislation, introduced by this Government. Nearly four fifths of school leaders said that the cuts they are being forced to make will have a negative or strongly negative impact on the quality of school provision for Welsh pupils. This obviously damning report from this union poses many questions, Minister. The fact remains that pupils in Wales receive £1,000 less than those in England. So, when will this Welsh Government ensure equality of funding between pupils in England and pupils in Wales, and when will you invest in our children's future and perhaps even fund schools directly to ensure that the pupils and the schools get the money that they deserve?