Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:34 pm on 15 November 2022.
Thank you very much for your statement, Minister, and your commitment, and that of the Welsh Government, to lifelong learning and second chance education. It was good to see you at the adult learning awards back in September, Minister, with the Learning and Work Institute, where I think we heard some very powerful testimony from those who benefited from second chance education and found it absolutely life-transforming, for themselves and, indeed, their children and families. It's very powerful indeed, and my own experience reinforces that, Minister.
Having left school without any qualifications and being out of work for a period of years, and then having a young family, living on a council estate, I was looking at a way forward, and it was second chance education, going to the further education college in Newport—Nash College as we described it then—that led me back into education and on to university, a career in law, and now the privilege of representing people, firstly in the Assembly and now here in the Senedd. So, I very much value those opportunities and I want to see them available to others.
I just think as well, Minister, that we need to understand the workplace in terms of these opportunities. I think the Wales union learning fund is very powerful, and the learning representatives, and that ease of access, where people can access upskilling and education in the workplace, and then develop a passion for it and go on from there, perhaps to their local further education college and beyond, is very, very powerful. I think that's a very important aspect of the provision we need.