Pupils from Different Socioeconomic Backgrounds

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:37 pm on 21 September 2022.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 2:37, 21 September 2022

(Translated)

Well, there are a number of important questions posed by the Member. The report does recognise that socioeconomic background in Wales is different to that, generally speaking, in England—that poverty levels are higher in Wales for reasons that are partly historical. The powers in terms of taxation and expenditure aren't in our hands to tackle those core elements. We use our resources to mitigate their impacts as much as we can, but there are challenges in that regard. The report does show us some important things, but it agrees with our own analysis of what needs to be done.

In the statement in March, and then in the speech I gave to the Bevan Foundation, a programme—I would say a broad-ranging programme—of measures was being considered, and we're implementing those. So, some of those things relate to how we support the education workforce to use alternative strategies, in terms of teacher training, in terms of ensuring peer-to-peer support for school leaders and in supporting schools in recruiting the teachers needed in those more disadvantaged areas. So, there's a range of things happening in that area.

Then, in terms of supporting pupils and students directly, there are plans in place in terms of speech and literacy, including a mentoring scheme with a university to ensure that speech and literacy levels are improved. This perhaps gets to the core of the question that you asked at the end of your contribution, in that we're also looking at what's already happening on the ground in terms of setting. That is, when in the school pathway should we be setting pupils, and is there a case to look again at that? Changing that system will be challenging, by the way. But, certainly, we do need to look at that.

In terms of the question in relation to funding—I've listed some of the plans that we have in place already today—we have a lot of schemes that are targeted at schools based on the number of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. So, that's at the heart of what we're doing. And the EPI has said, for example, that much of what we did in light of COVID had been weighted specifically towards children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.