4. Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Taith — Delivering Wales's innovative international learning exchange programme

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:32 pm on 18 October 2022.

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Photo of Laura Anne Jones Laura Anne Jones Conservative 3:32, 18 October 2022

Thank you for your statement, Minister. Learning exchange programmes are wonderful opportunities for young people. But putting aside the fact that you've spent millions and millions—£65 million, in fact—reinventing the wheel and creating a scheme that only differs slightly from the UK Government's offer, I do have some practical questions that I'd like to ask.

As you've laid out, each phase has a different focus. Pathway 2 has three themes—developments in education, diversity and inclusion, and climate change. As the funding is on a year-on-year basis, I foresee that this might pose a difficulty for students who are planning to study abroad, but don't know if their subject will then fit into the following year's themes. So, Minister, how will this work for university students picking degrees where they study a year abroad, and will this cause more students to opt out and use the Turing scheme instead, with its stable objectives, and would this result in any financial waste? Also, as you know, the Taith scheme can be applied for alongside the Turing scheme, however, this would require organisations to fill out two different application processes. This, obviously, can be time-consuming and costly. Minister, what mechanisms are you putting in place to ensure that, for applicants applying for both Taith and Turing, the processes are as seamless and efficient as possible? Thank you.