The following amendments have been selected: amendment 1 in the name of Lesley Griffiths, and amendments 2 and 3 in the name of Siân Gwenllian. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendments 2 and 3 will be deselected.

Item 7 is next, the Welsh Conservatives debate: the impact of COVID on education. I call on Laura Anne Jones to move the motion.

Motion NDM7895 Darren Millar

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Regrets the adverse impact of COVID-19 restrictions on children and young people across Wales, including:

a) learners in Wales missing more days of their education than elsewhere in the UK during the pandemic;

b) Estyn’s conclusion that learners’ maths, reading, Welsh language and social skills have all suffered as a result of school closures.

2. Notes the persistent per pupil funding shortfall between Wales and other parts of the UK.

3. Calls on the Welsh Government to take action to overcome the impact of the pandemic on Welsh learners to ensure that every young person can reach their potential, by:

a) guaranteeing that schools will remain open;

b) removing the requirement to wear face coverings in schools and colleges as soon as possible;

c) accelerating the rollout of improved ventilation adaptations in learning environments;

d) levelling up school funding across Wales to address the shortfall between Wales and other UK nations.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move this Welsh Conservative motion in the name of my colleague Darren Millar. I welcome this opportunity today to open this incredibly important debate at a critical time for education in Wales. I do find it concerning that the Welsh Conservatives have had to use their time allocation to talk about education as it's the only opportunity that we've had to highlight concerns to the Minister for education who, apart from the questions earlier, has been hiding behind written statements so far this year.

With the restrictions remaining in place in our schools in Wales, unlike in England, it is arguably of paramount importance that, as a Senedd, we have the opportunity to scrutinise current restrictions and concerns in arguably one of, if not the most important responsibilities of this Government. The motion aims to highlight the adverse effect that COVID-19 and restrictions have had on children and young people across Wales and the persistent per-pupil funding shortfall between Wales and other parts of the UK. Crucially, this motion calls on the Welsh Government to take action to overcome the impact of the pandemic on Welsh learners.

Deputy Presiding Officer, do I see a problem?

Yes, we haven't got the Minister, so I'd rather hold until we have the Minister.

No worries. I could see by your face that something was wrong.

Yes, the Minister doesn't seem to be visible on my screen, so I want to make sure he's here to be taking in the full debate. Ah, here he comes. So, Laura, I'm going to ask you to start again. I'm sorry, but I think it's important that you start from the beginning so the Minister's in fully and up to date totally, okay.

Absolutely. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move this Welsh Conservatives motion in the name of my colleague Darren Millar. I welcome this opportunity to open this incredibly important debate today at a critical for education in Wales. I do find it concerning that the Welsh Conservatives had to use their time allocation to talk about education, as it's the only opportunity we've had to highlight concerns to the Minister for education who, apart from questions earlier, has been hiding behind written statements so far this year.

With the restrictions remaining in place in our schools in Wales, unlike in England, it is arguably of paramount importance that, as a Senedd, we have the opportunity to scrutinise current restrictions and concerns in arguably one of, if not the most important responsibilities of this Government. The motion aims to highlight the adverse effects that COVID-19 and the restrictions have had on children and young people across Wales, and notes the persistent per-pupil funding shortfall between Wales and other parts of the UK. Crucially, this motion calls on the Welsh Government to take action to overcome the impact of the pandemic on Welsh learners, to ensure that every young person can reach their full potential and have the very best start in life.

Although unfortunately not in the motion laid before you, one of the most significant adverse effects of this pandemic has been on the preparedness for the most seismic change in education for a generation, the new Curriculum for Wales, which launches within months. Following conversations I've had with many school leaders and teachers, they are very concerned with the lack of support that they have had now during these final stages of preparation, particularly due to all the extra pressures put upon them at the moment, and also the lack of any explanation from this Welsh Government on what exams will look like in the future, to enable them to properly prepare for their lessons accordingly.

Although more flexibility is greatly welcomed, it is a completely new way of working that is a far cry from how teaching has been for many decades. There's really no doubt now that there does need to be more clarity during these final stages of preparations so that teaching staff can themselves feel prepared, and to ensure that pupils are armed with the skills and knowledge they will need for those exams. With no clarity over the future of qualifications, secondary schools in particular, and with good reason, cannot immerse themselves fully into the curriculum design and development process—already a struggle for many due to pandemic pressures. There absolutely has to be an end goal, and we need to be seeing that clear goal as soon as possible. Teachers are craving this direction, and there needs to be a coherent, national professional learning offer available to school staff in Wales.

Also, there is currently no clear understanding on how far subsidiarity, the bedrock of this new curriculum, can be stretched at school level. Fundamental things need to be addressed so that plans can be put in place as soon as possible, particularly due to the fact that planning time has been missed through no fault of this Government or teaching staff. I'm going off the point of how COVID has affected children and young people of Wales, you may think. But, no, the fact that preparing for the new Curriculum for Wales has taken a back seat is very concerning and a worrying impact that this pandemic has had over the last two years.

Everyone wants the new curriculum to succeed, but the Minister must realise, as well as throwing in extra money, that more direction is now needed. With all the pressures of this pandemic, staff absences, pupil absences, the rise in home schooling and missed education, we now need this Government to throw everything it has at education to ensure that our children get the very best start in life, an education that gives them opportunities on a par at least with the rest of the UK, if not, hopefully, better.

Unfortunately, we're not starting with much of an advantage. Learners in Wales have missed more days of their education last year than anywhere else in the UK—66 days, over a third of the school year. This cannot but have a significant detrimental impact on our learners. This is evident from recent conclusions from the Estyn report, which identified that learner skills in Wales have suffered in maths, reading, Welsh language and social skills—all a result of school closures. This is very worrying. Unfortunately, Wales has been lagging far behind the rest of the UK in educational terms for decades now, and although the education Minister previously expressed some happiness that Wales had met the average Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development level for reading and oracy, for me, this is far from okay. Former Soviet bloc countries are on that same level. We should be way above that, at a minimum on a par with Scotland and England. There really is no excuse not to be.

The Welsh Government's persistent per-pupil shortfall between Wales and other parts of the UK is also just not good enough. But it's not surprising from a party that made us the only country in the UK to have ever cut an education budget. Until the recent budget, for every £1 spent in England, Wales receives £1.20. As a result, education spending per pupil in Wales should be at least £1,000 more compared to England.

Children have suffered a lot during this pandemic, with their education, mental health and important milestone changes. My own two-year-old missed out on meeting new children of his age nearby due to baby classes being cancelled. My other son wasn't able to celebrate his last year in primary school. Lots of milestones and nativity plays and important occasions were missed out on—trivial, you may think, but it all has had an impact on the children and parents by not going ahead.

The lack of electronic devices and bad broadband are also major problems and barriers to learning that the pandemic has highlighted, amongst many other inequalities across this country. The pandemic has also thrown up and highlighted major problems of safety of children, and of the quality of education that children can receive at home. Also, the pandemic has made us all realise just how important school and school life is, not just in terms of education, but for the mental health of our children.

Many home schooled children do well, and it works for some families, including a colleague of mine, but there is now a worrying rise in home education, and I say 'worrying' as recently it is often being done by parents as a reaction to having to wear masks in schools, or worries about the virus, not as a choice about what is best for their children, their education, their family and future prospects. Due to this trend, I'd be very interested to hear stats from the Minister as to how this Government measure how qualified these parents wanting to do home schooling now are, how regular inspections are, how progress is monitored, and whether there'll be anything done to encourage re-enrolling into schools. As recent data shows, 4,000 five to 15-year-olds in 2021 were home schooled, up 60 per cent from 2018-19. This is clearly a steep rise, so I look forward to hearing from the Minister how he's going to address this urgently. 

I welcome this year's increase in the education budget, but still wonder if it will be enough really to claw back the time missed and to deal with all the numerous, massive changes we are seeing in education at the moment, namely, the new curriculum, the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill, ventilation adaptations, mental health, and I could go on. We welcome the money for ventilation adaptations, but some degree of urgency needs to be attached to it as we're still seeing children sitting in coats and jackets in freezing temperatures, with all the windows and doors open in our schools and colleges. This is simply not right—not right for their well-being, and not sustainable.

Another major concern and impact of the pandemic has been the increase in waiting times for children to be seen by an neurodevelopmental treatment specialist. There is currently a two-year-plus waiting list for children to see an NDT specialist, which is storing up significant issues for the future, and, in my opinion, putting children's learning and life chances at significant risk. Without the NDT appointments we have children who are being clinically identified as autistic or having ADHD, resulting in poorer levels of understanding and provision, thus creating a scenario where children are simply not being adequately supported to thrive, which I know teachers are finding extremely frustrating. Personally, I don't think this is good enough in this day and age. We must get these fundamental things right before we look to headline-grabbing schemes. 

I welcome recent moneys being put towards this, and the changes to the system to identify, but we cannot let any more children slip through the net. This couldn't be more urgent, particularly, as was said in the education questions earlier, for vulnerable children. Their vulnerabilities are only being exacerbated by this pandemic, so it is vital that we get support in place and that this is sped up for children.

One of the main concerns we all share, as is apparent from the amendment, is children and young people's mental health, and staff too. Whilst schools are able to use the Recruit, Recover, Raise Standards money to support children through targeted well-being issues, the wider concern is where schools go from there, as without the clinical support for children with significant mental health issues, we're simply putting sticking plasters over a gaping wound. There needs to be a root-and-branch review of child and adolescent mental health services in Wales. This is not a 'now' problem, but one that will have consequences for generations.

I find it concerning that, recently, the focus of this Government has been all wrong: new sexuality education that erases women, the left-wing rehashing of our history that's about to be introduced to our children, and a new curriculum that teachers still have no clear guidance on how to implement.

Another concerning impact for our children in terms of current restrictions here in Wales is face masks in classrooms. UK Government evidence and even Welsh scientific advisers have said that they make minimal difference in classrooms. But because this Government are too scared to stand up to the unions and heed scientific advice, our children are still having to wear masks in classrooms all day. This can have a detrimental impact on learning and learners, with it restricting communication between teachers and pupils and pupil-to-pupil communication. It is also deeply uncomfortable and restrictive to wear them for hours on end.

Surely, there needs to be a 'balance of harms' approach here with the decision coming from the top, as it will put our schools and local authorities in difficult positions otherwise. Given the strength of feeling on masks from either camp, I think that this decision should be made nationally. Having taken many different approaches, it will do pupils no favours and create disparities across the nation, upset as well confusion. I would say to the Minister that some things require local solutions, but issues such as face masks require—demand, actually—a national approach.

Of course, there will be local school-by-school solutions to many things, as I've said, but the feedback that I'm getting is that this Government needs to have more leadership, more detail in what is being asked of schools and children, a greater effort to speed up the help for significant concerns over children's mental health, and address the waiting times for additional learning needs, for those waiting right now to be identified as soon as possible so that they get the specialist help that they need. This needs to be urgently addressed.

We're now at the stage where we need more than just commitment; we need detailed plans for reform and support. Schools need to know the parameters in which they're working and education provision needs to be equal. Action is needed now more than ever to avert further disruption to our learners' education and to avert the mental health crisis in our schools, with the impact of increased social media as well as many other factors during lockdown starting to now show. The mental health impact on our children and young people is one that will last for decades.

I urge Members across this Chamber to support our motion today and thank all of you in advance for contributing to this important debate. It's important that we have the opportunity to debate these crucial educational concerns that we all have. Thank you.

I have selected the amendments to the motion. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendments 2 and 3 will be deselected. I call on the Minister for Education and Welsh Language to formally move amendment 1 tabled in the name of Lesley Griffiths.

Amendment 1—Lesley Griffiths

Delete all and replace with:

1. Regrets the adverse impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s learning and well-being.

2. Believes that the Welsh Government must continue to take appropriate measures to ensure face to face teaching is prioritised and that decisions to reduce COVID protections in schools must be taken in accordance with the data.

3. Believes that prioritising the wellbeing of pupils and staff is essential as we respond to the pandemic.

4. Notes the Education Policy Institute’s findings that Wales is spending the largest amount per pupil on education recovery in the UK.

5. Welcomes that the Welsh Government recently announced:

a) £50 million additional capital funding to enable schools to undertake repair and improvement work, with a focus on health and safety measures, such as improving ventilation;

b) £45 million additional revenue funding to support schools as they continue to deal with the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and to prepare for the requirements of the new curriculum.

Amendment 1 moved.

Formally.

I call on Heledd Fychan to move amendments 2 and 3.

Amendment 2—Siân Gwenllian

Delete point 1 and replace with:

Regrets the adverse impact of COVID-19 restrictions on children and young people across Wales.

Amendment 3—Siân Gwenllian

Delete all after point 1 and replace with:

Calls on the Welsh Government to ensure that any future impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people, in particular in relation to learning and mental health, are minimised by investing in:

a) air filtration technology to ensure that every effort is made to keep schools open and safe; 

b) mental health provision to prioritise mental health and wellbeing.

Amendments 2 and 3 moved.

I move formally the amendments tabled in the name of Siân Gwenllian. As is apparent from the motion and the two amendments, our three parties are agreed that we regret the detrimental impact that the COVID-19 restrictions have had on children and young people across Wales. It has been, and continues to be, a period of great uncertainty for all of them and it is important that we prioritise providing the vital support that they need. However, even though COVID has brought additional challenges, it is important today that we also acknowledge that things weren’t perfect before the pandemic. Schools' budgets were already under pressure, and, as we all know, child poverty continues to be a pressing problem that impacts learners. And listening to Laura Jones talking about children being cold in the classrooms because of the need for ventilation, what about the role of UK Government now in terms of the fact that they are cold at home too? We've seen the shortfall in retaining that £20 uplift in universal credit and the rising cost of living. This is a wider problem. It's not just because of COVID, and there is a responsibility on the UK Government in terms of supporting our children here in Wales.

I think there also needs to be some myth busting here regarding some of the claims in the Conservative motion. The motion notes a so-called

'persistent per pupil funding shortfall between Wales and other parts of the UK.’

In 2018, Institute of Fiscal Studies analysis concluded that once London is discounted, there is virtually no difference in per-pupil funding between Wales and England. In terms of recovery funding, let's get our facts straight: the Welsh Government has allocated a further £38 million in 2022-23 for the education sector’s response to the pandemic, which follows around £190 million in 2021-22 and £220 million in 2020-21. While this level of funding is less than what some experts warn is needed, the Education Policy Institute estimated in April 2021 that the Welsh Government needs to spend £600 million to £900 million. The EPI also reported in June 2021 that funding for COVID educational recovery per learner in Wales is the highest of the four UK nations. In this regard, the EPI wrote that total education recovery

'planned spending per pupil is currently highest in Wales (£400 per pupil), followed by England (£310 per pupil), whilst it is about £230 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.'

So, some of the claims made in the Conservative motion are just false. While the Welsh Government could of course go much, much further, the funding is to be welcomed.

I would now like to turn to the Plaid Cymru amendments. We know that one of the key ways that we can decrease the spread of COVID-19, including the omicron variant, in schools, colleges and early years settings is to ensure that they are well ventilated. Good ventilation prevents the virus from remaining in the air and infecting people. A number of parts of school buildings are already well ventilated, with plenty of airflow, and we can now monitor the remaining areas using carbon dioxide monitors, in which the Welsh Government has at last invested. But, what should a school do when it identifies an area that is not well ventilated? Well, guidance and common sense suggest that the simple solutions are simple steps, such as opening doors and windows. But is this possible in every school?

If the issue cannot be easily solved, schools are advised to look at what work can be done to improve ventilation. This could include investing in vents, doors or windows. And, in this regard, I welcome the £50 million recently announced for local authorities through the sustainable communities for learning programme to help schools with the refurbishment and capital improvements, focusing on health and safety measures, such as improving ventilation. Schools will also benefit from investment that aims to make them more creative and person-centred environments that are warmer and more welcoming. But, in the long term, we need to promote good ventilation and better air quality, and prioritise natural daylight, because all of these factors have a significant impact on performance in school settings, as well as on air quality. 

The pandemic is not over yet, and COVID continues to be a real and present danger. Who is to say when the next variant might come, or even when the next pandemic might threaten our population, including our younger citizens? We need to ensure that our schools are as safe as possible, not just now but for the future.

The pandemic and subsequent school closures have had a devastating effect on the mental health of children and young people. Parents have said that, among children and young people, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, eating disorders, excessive exercise and anxiety all started as a result of uncertainty about school life, school work, exams and fear during the pandemic. Children now need professional mental health help but are hampered by long waiting lists for appointments with child and adolescent mental health services. We know that the data shows that the waiting times are far too long.

So, today, I would ask all of us to set aside any political point-scoring the original motion and the Government amendment may be trying to achieve and that we unite behind Plaid Cymru’s amendments that recognise the crisis and commit us all to working together to find both short-term and long-term solutions to support our children and young people. 

It's a pleasure to take part in this important debate this afternoon. As a parent, I'm fully aware of the impact the pandemic has had on younger generations, but thankfully my son is young enough not to have suffered any major detriment to his education. But, older children and young people aren't that lucky. As parents, we always worry about our children's future, but the pandemic has compounded that worry exponentially. Despite the fact that young children are less likely to catch COVID or spread it, and those children who do catch the virus are more likely to have no symptoms, Governments insisted on shutting schools for long periods, exams have been cancelled and learning curtailed, disrupting children's education and development at a critical time in their young lives.

While there was some justification for such measures two years ago when we knew very little about COVID, there is absolutely no justification for it now. As early as July 2020, medical studies were showing that children were significantly less likely to become infected than adults. When they did catch COVID, they were more likely to have a more transient upper respiratory infection with minimal viral shedding. The data continued to grow as more and more studies were conducted, and by the middle of last year the evidence was clear that children under 10 are not vectors in the spread of COVID. 

For older children and young people, it was more of a mixed bag. While they can spread COVID, they are more likely to be asymptomatic, yet we carried on closing schools to stop children spreading the virus, with little to no regard of the impact this was having on their development. Despite the fact that those most vulnerable to this disease had already been vaccinated, our children lost out on a third of their schooling during the last academic year, as the Welsh Government continued to overreact to the pandemic. Their failures and lack of leadership will have done untold damage to an entire generation of children and young people. 

Yesterday, the Welsh Government unveiled their plan for schools, but rather than returning to schools to pre-pandemic settings, they have decided to dither, to delay and to pass the buck. The clarity wanted and needed by parents and children has instead been replaced by further uncertainty. Their statement can be summed up as this: 'Things will continue as they are for the next three weeks and we'll pass the buck on to schools and education authorities; they can decide what restrictions are necessary'. There is no question on what decision has to be made. There has to be a complete removal of all restrictions, and it's high time that we learnt to live with this virus.

In a bad flu season, we sadly see as many deaths as we do with COVID, yet we don't panic and close schools, force children to sit in freezing classrooms or stand outside in the rain for an hour. It's time to end unnecessary and unfair restrictions, it's time to return our children's education to normal and it's time to stop overreacting. Diolch. 

I just want to clarify whether this is a debate about the impact of COVID on young people and their education, or whether it's a rant about the bits of the curriculum that the Conservatives don't like, because I think there's a bit of confusion in my mind, or rather in Laura Jones's mind, on this matter. 

I completely agree that it was disappointing that learners in Wales missed more days of their education than elsewhere in the UK during the first year of the pandemic, as highlighted by the Centre for Economic Performance. But, that report also confirms that the greatest learning loss was experienced by the most vulnerable learners. I just didn't hear in the previous contribution from Gareth Davies what he might have done to safeguard vulnerable learners, because I recall very clearly that the school hubs we set up at the beginning of the emergency worked well for key workers in essential services, including people in health, food and retail, and that they were, no doubt, located in the right place to enable those key workers to go to work whilst their children kept learning in a school.

But, who thought that vulnerable learners would turn up at a key worker hub? It was never going to happen. One of the definitions of deprivation is a reluctance to leave the community where you live from one year to the next, and vulnerable children with disruptive lives need the reassurance of the place and the teachers that they trust and are familiar with. They were never going to turn up in a place where they knew no-one. The Minister will be aware that I harangued and lobbied his predecessor on this, and fair play to Kirsty Williams, she changed the rules, and in subsequent lockdowns after the first one, all schools were allowed to remain open for all key worker children and all vulnerable children. 

For the second year of the pandemic, I hope that the Centre for Economic Performance will repeat its analysis so that we can see a rather different picture. Because whilst Wales has been by far the most successful country in suppressing omicron, the UK Government's laissez-faire approach has let omicron run rip in England, and anecdotally this has had a devastating impact on school attendance, and not just on the attendance by pupils. It has also eliminated whole swathes of teachers from the classroom, including my daughter, who tested positive for COVID this morning. It is inevitable that if your job includes comforting children who are not feeling well and who then turn out to test positive, your chances of catching COVID are very—

Jenny, will you take an intervention?

Yes.

Gareth. Can Gareth Davies be unmuted, please? Sorry, Jenny. Can Gareth Davies be unmuted, please?

Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. Could Jenny Rathbone perhaps substantiate that claim that omicron has somehow ravaged wildly in England compared to Wales? Do you have any science or statistics to back up your claim?

I think it's a bit early for statistics. I'm just telling you about the experience of both Preston hospital and all the schools in Essex, because that is where my daughter teaches. I can tell you that the supply teaching agencies are simply unable to supply the schools with the people they need. They are desperately ringing everybody around to see if anybody will work extra hours or extra days because there are simply not enough people to keep teachers in front of pupils in the classroom. So, it has absolutely had a massive impact, both on children and also on their teachers.

And then I hear you say—. I think it was you, or your colleague was saying, that we shouldn't be requiring COVID passes in schools, that that has to end. We absolutely have an obligation to maintain—. Sorry, I beg your pardon: requiring masks in school, that that has to end immediately, that all restrictions—that was you—should be lifted on this, because we have an obligation to teachers. If they're prepared to go in and risk their health by going into places where we know that we're not going to have COVID passes in place, for obvious ethical reasons, then we have an obligation to ensure that we are keeping the workplace in school as safe as possible, and face masks is one of the tools with which they do that, as well as bubbling year groups and all the rest of it. So, I cannot understand why Laura Anne Jones yet again repeated the laissez-faire mantra of the extreme libertarians down in Westminster who resist any restraint on personal liberty, even when they expect different restrictions for other people. We owe it to our teachers to maintain face coverings in place. Until the data tells us that it is no longer necessary, that is on what we base our rules, and we have to ensure that the maximum number of children are in place, and that we are doing the maximum to repair all the damage, so—

Jenny, you need to conclude now.

Okay. Just to say that it is completely untrue that Wales has lower funding. As the Labour motion points out, we are spending much more money on trying to repair the inevitable damage that has taken place amongst our children and we should all regret that. But the things that we need to do: employing more youth workers, employing more counsellors, ensuring that we are promoting play as a way of recovering from COVID are really important ways of helping young people and children recover from the appalling pandemic.

From the outset, it must be noted that there has been chronic underfunding from the Welsh Labour Government in our schools and education system. For every £1 spent in England, Wales receives £1.20. As a result, education spending per pupil in Wales should be at least £1,000 per annum more, compared to England. However, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, every young person in Wales receives £100 less than their counterparts in England, mostly because of Welsh Government bureaucracy. As announced in the recent UK budget, the UK Conservative Government has committed to increasing the Welsh Government budget by £2.5 billion per year on average for the next three years. This is the largest annual funding settlement increase since devolution began and on top of an additional baseline funding of £1.9 billion, and let's hope that that money goes into our schools.

Turning to the current restrictions in place in our education establishments, the lack of Welsh Government preparation is having a negative impact on the education of our children and young people in Wales. Welsh Conservatives would end the mandatory wearing of face masks in our schools. Masks in a classroom stop children and young people in Wales enjoying a normal experience in the classroom. It continues to stifle their development. The mental health of children has suffered enough—

James, will you take an intervention from Jenny Rathbone?

Yes, two seconds. Children in Wales deserve to live in an open and inclusive environment. I will take an intervention from Jenny Rathbone, yes.

Thank you, James. Did you not hear me when I said earlier: we need face masks in order to prevent COVID spreading in the classroom, both to fellow pupils and also to protect staff? Otherwise, we'll have the situation we've got in parts of England where there are just swathes and swathes of children and staff off with COVID.

I'd like to thank Jenny for her intervention. However, we do need to start to learn to live with COVID. We don't put masks on in school for any other type of infection or disease that comes forward, so I don't think that is needed at the moment. And I echo the words of the shadow Minister for education, Laura Jones, who's been vocal against the decision by this Labour Government to make schoolchildren continue to wear face masks until March. This Government is passing the buck of responsibility on to our schools and creating differences across Wales, where some schools have no masks and others have masks. This Government must take responsibility and stop treating children differently to the rest of the population. We are seeing the damaging mental health figures in young people coming out, and forcing children to wear masks is not helping the situation. We've already heard about the CAMHS waiting list times; this is all because our children are under pressure time and time again.

Welsh Labour Ministers overreacted to omicron. We cannot just keep having restrictions when other parts of the UK are opening up. And sadly for the people of Wales, Welsh Labour's decision recently has been all about the politics and not about the science. Just today, Welsh Government announced plans to reduce isolation periods to five days; something to celebrate, but weeks behind the curve, which has caused problems for young people and also those people working in England. And we in the Welsh Conservatives are the only party calling for freedom, freedom and openness in this Senedd, as others in this Senedd continue to toe the Welsh Labour Government line.

James, will you take another intervention from Heledd Fychan?

Yes, why not?

Thank you. Does James Evans have any concerns around the impact of long COVID on children? I'm not sure if you heard yesterday Adam Price state that research estimates that between 10 and 20 per cent of children who contract COVID-19 developed paediatric long COVID. Are you so cavalier with the health of our children that you don't care, and say that we have to live with this?

I do take offence that I don't care about the actual future and health of our children. We in Welsh Conservatives do care about the health and well-being of our children and that's why in this place we have called time and time again for actually the mental health of our children and the health of children to be prioritised by this Labour Welsh Government.

And I just want to briefly discuss the Plaid Cymru amendment, Deputy Llywydd. The amendment talks of future impacts, but the negative effects of COVID and Welsh Labour and Plaid's restrictions here are here and now. Children in Wales have already missed more schooling than any other UK nation and the ongoing face-mask requirement continues to stifle children in their learning environments. We're not simply disagreeing with the Welsh Labour Government, we're offering alternatives. The Welsh Conservatives have been very clear in setting out what we believe should be done. The Minister should implement some of our actions, guaranteeing that schools remain open, removing the requirement to wear face coverings, accelerating the roll-out of improved ventilation adaptions in our learning environments, and levelling up school funding across Wales to address the shortfalls between Wales and the other UK nations.

Deputy Llywydd, the Welsh Conservatives have a clear plan, a plan this Welsh Labour Government should adopt, and I urge every colleague in this Chamber today to support the Welsh Conservatives' motion this afternoon. Diolch, Deputy Llywydd.

I hope you don't mind if I start my contribution by thanking Members from across the Siambr for their kind words and well wishes during my recent stay in hospital. It meant a lot to me, and it's very good to be back today.

It's also good to be back participating in a Welsh Conservative debate today on the impact of COVID on education. Parents, pupils and, in particular, teaching staff have really risen to the challenge of working differently and competing with ever-changing rules and regulations to meet that difficult balance between providing an excellent education and keeping themselves and others safe. And so have communities. And I wanted to take the opportunity to praise the work of local volunteers and community groups in helping out at short notice when the pandemic first hit to make the reality of virtual learning happen. A key example would be the Porthcawl COVID-19 action group in my region who sourced and donated computers and laptops to school-aged pupils who would perhaps have otherwise been unable to access online classes. So, a big thank you to them and to the other groups that I know across Wales who helped ensure that young people got an education, despite the restrictions that were brought about by the pandemic.

But I wanted to focus my remarks today on the impact of school closures. Because we all know the value of a single school day. The lessons learnt, whether they're on the curriculum or not, are invaluable and incomparable, and last year in Wales, pupils lost, as Laura Anne Jones said, 66 of those days due to COVID-19 measures in place in Wales, which is more time in the classroom lost than in any other part of the UK. And as we mentioned in our motion, Estyn have made clear that that meant that learners' maths, reading, Welsh language and social skills have all suffered as a result of school closures. But the truth is we just don't know yet how significant the impact will be in the long term. Because even despite the fantastic efforts of parents, teachers and pupils, learning virtually just isn't the same as being in a classroom.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies predicted that current learners are likely to earn less, and estimated that this difference could be up to £40,000. This lost learning across the 66 days has resulted in long-term prospects of children being affected significantly. They've also predicted that the financial cost of students in Wales sufficiently catching up with the schooling they've missed would be around £1.4 billion, but even then, that would likely result in students being overburdened with work and necessary pressure to catch up on the skills and work that they had not the chance to learn in the first instance.

Now, frankly, you can't put a price on the influence of a good teacher in the classroom and the ways in which they can not only educate, but shape a life and a future in a way that just isn't possible over Zoom. And while most parents have stepped up to the plate in helping their children as best as they can to make sure they're not losing out by not being in school, the reality is that these are the same people that are very often dealing with a number of other changes and challenges in their professional life and their societal and family commitments as a result of the wider impacts of COVID. Even though many parents and carers did manage to juggle working from home with childcare and education that would have otherwise been provided by schools prior to the pandemic, not all young learners were that lucky. And these were often the same learners who perhaps would benefit most from a regular school day and the influence of a good teacher. 

But it isn't just learning the societal skills that we have. The schools are often the only places where young people engage in sport and exercise. We've discussed a number of times in the Siambr the benefits of sport and exercise, both for physical and mental health, but also developmentally and the importance of things like team work and bonding. These are just some of the reasons why it's so important going forward. We need to ensure that we don't ever end up in a situation where schools are again forced to close because of COVID. Advances in treatments and the phenomenal UK-wide vaccine roll-out have mitigated the impact of COVID, and many teaching staff now just want to teach pupils in their classroom, because they too realise the impact that school closures have had.

But also for our current generation, for the pupils that have already been affected, we simply can't afford a generation of COVID children whose education has been significantly impacted by the pressures of coronavirus. That's why we need a plan from the Welsh Government to take action to overcome the impact the pandemic has already had on Welsh learners, and that's why I'm asking Members from across the Chamber to back our motion today.

I call on the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles.

Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. It's very true that schools and students have faced serious disruption in light of the pandemic, and it has been a very difficult situation in many schools and for many of our young people. The decisions taken at a national level, the national regulations and the national guidance that we have put in place as a Government here in Wales have been based on data and scientific and medical advice.

That includes the use of face coverings, and I worry that Laura Anne Jones's view on that so often is simply, 'For Wales, see England'. Advocating the approach of the Government for England in relation to face coverings seems especially reckless on a day when COVID-related absence in England's schools is at its highest point since the start of the academic year. We want pupils to be in schools and our focus has been on ensuring that schools, colleges and education settings are safe places to learn and to work. We've provided the guidance and funding to help settings be safe and accessible for learning, be that at home or, when needed, face to face.

Our aim throughout has been to maximise learning and to minimise disruption for our young people, and we haven't done that alone, of course. All our partners, all education staff in Wales, I want to thank for their extraordinary efforts over the course of the pandemic. We absolutely understand the extra pressure that schools face at the moment. I provided planning days at the start of this term to help consider the measures that would be needed over the course of these weeks to keep our people safe.

We're aware of the staffing pressures that COVID has brought; we continue to work, Dirprwy Lywydd, closely with local authorities and supply agencies to help alleviate this. The autumn term saw us putting 400 newly qualified teachers into paid posts in schools and I'm really pleased that we've been able to extend that this term as well. We've supported schools and other settings to respond to those immediate pressures, but we also need to look at the long-term effects, Dirprwy Lywydd, particularly on learners' well-being and progression, which some Members have spoken about. So, our renew and reform plan focuses on supporting a revitalised, reformed, focused and resilient education system that puts learners' physical and mental health and well-being at the heart of its approach. And that approach is absolutely central to our new curriculum.

Preparation for the curriculum continues, whether it's the work of the national network on design and progression, most recently the new resources on assessment, the significant investment in professional learning—. There's more to be done to make that as accessible as possible for our workforce, absolutely, and we'll work with them on that. And I'm looking forward to the conference I have with heads in a couple of weeks on curriculum preparation.

But we know as well, Dirprwy Lywydd, that many learners, in particular those in exam years, are experiencing—for reasons we would all understand—anxiety, and some feel disengaged from education. The funding of £24 million that I announced before Christmas is there to support learners in exam years to have the extra advice and personalised support that they will need. We've already committed, over the course of this financial year—. Actually, the figure is £230 million-worth of additional funding to deal with COVID, in addition to the funding of equivalent figures the year before that.

We've heard a number of Members today make points about protections in schools. As you heard me say yesterday, our clear advice from Public Health Wales is that we need a couple more weeks to be able to be certain of the pattern. We've been absolutely clear that that is our priority. I've heard more than one Member say today that learners in Wales have lost more school time than in other parts of the UK. I think a fair analysis, for example, of the data in Wales against the data in England, let's say, is that the picture is broadly similar and that all parts of the UK face a challenge of broadly similar proportions. The reality is, Dirprwy Lywydd, that the picture can't be analysed in detail. In England, pupil absences are reported in a voluntary survey and they routinely get about 50 per cent, 60 per cent, of their returns. In Wales, we routinely get 100 per cent, so our understanding is much clearer in Wales.

You heard me say yesterday, Dirprwy Lywydd, that, on 10 February, when the next review point comes, we hope to confirm that schools will then be able to start moving to their local frameworks—a national approach that reflects local circumstances. And I'm asking schools in the meantime to work with their local authorities, with their public health advisers, to prepare for that point.

A number of Members made a point about ventilation, including Heledd Fychan in bringing forward the Plaid amendment. I'm pleased that every classroom in Wales should, by now, have a carbon dioxide monitor, which helps staff identify areas that have potentially poor ventilation. We've provided significant funding at the start of this year to support school maintenance to respond to some of those challenges, whether it's new air filters and handler units and so on. The advice from TAC at the start of this week emphasises that ventilation is the most important intervention, and that, alongside that, there is a role for air cleaning devices in specific circumstances. In the majority of cases, simple steps like improving the mechanical systems or installing vents will help circulate the air, but, in those cases where that's not enough, the new advice from TAC supports the use of those additional air filters. But we'll publish guidance over the coming days to support our local authorities to invest in those where they need to.

Finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, on the question of funding, this is a persistent myth that the Conservative Party propagates, and I associate myself with the points that Heledd Fychan made about the broad comparability of investment on a per-pupil basis between Wales and England. The figures that the Tory party have been relying on to make this argument are now about a decade old or more—a decade. Members who've been here for that period of time will remember that, at that point in time, the Conservative Party was positively advocating a 12 per cent cut in the education budget. The figures stem from those days; they're not remotely current. The Education Policy Institute has told us that, in Wales, we're investing more and more progressively in the response to COVID.

I'll conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, by saying that we are, in Wales, extremely fortunate to have a highly professional and dedicated education workforce, committed to the well-being and progression of our young people, and I'm very grateful to everybody who's worked with us, and continues to work with us, to keep Wales learning and to keep Wales safe.

I call on Sam Rowlands to reply to the debate.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. First of all, I'd like to thank all Members from across the virtual Chamber this afternoon who contributed to this really important debate, and of course the Minister, as well, for your response. I'd like to join you, Minister, in thanking our teachers, school staff and local education authority staff, all those involved through this difficult time, in making sure children were getting educated and still are today.

Those cross-party contributions we've heard today have clearly indicated that all political parties and Members note the sheer impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the younger generation—that's something that Heledd Fychan mentioned in her contribution right at the start—and the impact this has had on their education through this time. As outlined, though, by a number of my colleagues, children in Wales have lost the most amount of learning than any other nation in the UK, potentially stifling their development. I think Jenny Rathbone was right to highlight some of the challenges that would pose to those who are certainly more vulnerable in our communities, and those who need more support. And this lack of access to learning has had a worrying impact on the progression of many pupils. As a father of three young girls in primary school, I've seen some of this with my own eyes over the last two years or so.

In terms of the points that Members highlighted, a remarkably healthy-looking Tom Giffard was right, I think, to highlight some of the good things, that online learning worked out for many learners, but also to highlight the fact that, actually, there's nothing quite like face-to-face learning and the benefits that having teachers and pupils in the same classroom has. And I think Heledd Fychan picked up some of the mental health impacts, perhaps, that online learning only can have, and that was something that others picked up as well in our debate.

In terms of face masks, a number of Members highlighted the issues or some of the issues that face masks can have in terms of a barrier to communication in the classroom. James Evans highlighted this in particular, especially for children learning to read and write. As we already know, this will have only exacerbated some of the education failings that we do see here in Wales. So, I would support Members in terms of the sooner face masks can come off the better, to allow people to learn in the best way possible.

In terms of the constructive element—. I can see Rhun ap Iorwerth wants to intervene here, Llywydd.

Yes. Are you prepared to take it, Sam?

Yes, come on.

Diolch yn fawr iawn. I'm grateful to you for taking an intervention. I think this is a much more reasonable tone, actually, from Sam Rowlands, and I agree entirely with you. All of us want to get rid of face masks in schools, and everywhere else as soon as possible, and I think probably Sam Rowlands will be embarrassed by some of the mantra that has been heard by some of his colleagues, this 'learning to live with COVID'. I fear it's the Conservatives learning to forget about COVID. It's been a terrible, terrible experience, and won't Sam Rowlands agree with me that it's not cavalier politicians who will decide when we move to the endemic stage now, but the virus itself, and we have to be very careful in working with it?

I'm certainly not embarrassed by comments that my colleagues have made, and you're absolutely right, we should be seeing restrictions moved away as soon as possible, and, of course, science and information have a key role to play in that decision making.

In terms of the constructive items that I think Members have picked up today that we can, hopefully, continue to agree on, I think Gareth Davies highlighted a really important point around parental choice and the role of parents and the voice of parents being heard throughout times like this. I'm not sure that's always been as strongly listened to as it could have been through this time. And, secondly, another area that has been highlighted and perhaps can be learned from constructively is the agility within the education system to be able to respond in times of crisis. At the start of the pandemic, I think it's fair to say that the agility wasn't there, and perhaps the Minister may want to think about how that could be built into the system in the future, because we're told that situations like this are not alone, and actually we may have to consider it in the future again.

So, in closing, Deputy Presiding Officer—I appreciate time is running away—it is disappointing that Welsh Government have submitted a 'delete all and replace with' amendment here today, instead of engaging with our motion and taking on board what I hoped was constructive feedback, looking to make the practical solutions that we've outlined in today's debate. We all acknowledge that the pandemic has been extremely challenging to all sectors. There have been no easy decision to make. However, here in Wales, specific actions of Welsh Government outlined in today's debate have had a detrimental impact on the development of our learners, which can only add to the worrying education statistics here in Wales. So, thank you to all Members and the Minister for constructive contributions, and I urge all Members to support our Conservative motion here today. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

The proposal is to agree the motion without amendment. Does any Member object? [Objection.]

Yes, I can see the Minister putting his hand up. 

I will therefore defer voting on the motion until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.