, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, what you were asking was whether we're maintaining the budget at the same level as last year, and the answer to that is 'yes'.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, what we've proposed in the draft budget is that we do maintain the funding that was available in the last financial year and that we reprofile that, if you like. We've agreed this jointly with Plaid Cymru as part of the co-operation agreement—that we…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, not in terms of Welsh language lessons. In terms of the work of the coleg, we don't fund the coleg Cymraeg on the basis of the number of learners in post-16 education, for example, so it's a more open budget than that, because much of it relates to…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Okay. As I said there are two main categories: the cut that impacts the Welsh Language Commissioner, so that cut is consistent with cuts that all of the commissioners will experience this year, which is around 5 per cent. The commissioner predicts that that…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, it is still realistic, I believe. We do face a financial challenge at the moment, of course, so if you look over the three years since we set the budget in 2022, the increase that we'd anticipated in the budget is substantial—15 per cent in the first…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Good morning.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Jeremy Miles, Minister for Education and the Welsh Language. Owain Lloyd, director of the department. Bethan Webb, deputy director of the department.
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Child poverty and educational attainment
Within our draft budget, Llywydd, we've protected the funding for the pupil development grant, which Jane Dodds spoke so eloquently about, and, if it's agreed by the Senedd, this will provide £128 million in funding to support our most disadvantaged learners…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Child poverty and educational attainment
Thank you, Llywydd. Tackling poverty is a fundamental principle for this Government, and it's central to the programme for government. The Minister for Social Justice has spoken today about our child poverty strategy and I've discussed PISA, but it's…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Child poverty and educational attainment
Formally.
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Programme for International Student Assessment results
But, Dirprwy Lywydd, I want to be clear: Wales's results are not where I want them to be. In 2018, contrary to the assertion of Tom Giffard and Peter Fox, we had started to see strong improvement in literacy and numeracy standards, thanks to the hard work of…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Programme for International Student Assessment results
Thank you, Presiding Officer. As Members will know, the PISA tests were undertaken in 2022, when the impacts of the pandemic were still being felt and COVID was still having a serious impact on education. It's not just Wales that is in this situation; COVID…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Programme for International Student Assessment results
Formally.
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: Professional Learning Entitlement
Well, the two questions are related, aren't they? I can't make a statement on the funding next year, for reasons that the Member will understand, but that will become clearer in the next few days, of course. But I don't think that funding alone is the answer…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: Professional Learning Entitlement
Well, I thank the Member for those questions, all of which are very fair questions. So, in relation to the question of fair access, funding, obviously, is part of that, but awareness is another part of it. So, on the funding question in particular, in 2023-24…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: Professional Learning Entitlement
Accredited professional learning will continue to be led by individual organisations in line with existing accreditation requirements, and endorsement for leadership provision will continue to be undertaken by the National Academy for Educational Leadership…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: Professional Learning Entitlement
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. The single most important influence on learner success within the education system is the quality of teaching and learning. The national professional learning entitlement, which launched a little over a year ago, is already playing…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: PISA Results 2022
In terms of the point of clarity, if you look at the results for mathematics and reading this year as compared to the figures in 2012, for example, from the OECD's point of view—. The difference isn't statistically significant, as it were. It's within the…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: PISA Results 2022
Well, I agree with the thrust of the point that Luke Fletcher made. I don't, myself, think we should describe them as a lost generation. I think they're a generation of young people who, as I think Jenny Rathbone was saying, particularly deserve our support…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: PISA Results 2022
I had a university lecturer who dedicated a book to a colleague by saying, 'To this person, for whom the opposite of speaking is not waiting but listening'. I've got to say, many of the questions the Member put to me I've answered specifically in my earlier…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: PISA Results 2022
I just want to agree with the point that Jenny Rathbone made at the end. The information we get from PISA is very useful information, but it is not the only information that we have, and it is certainly not the only information that we need. Its utility is…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: PISA Results 2022
I thank Heledd Fychan for those very important questions. I don’t want to undermine some of the important points that she makes, but just in terms of correcting a few of the points, the results aren’t good, but these aren’t the worst results. That’s important…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: PISA Results 2022
Thank you to the Member for those observations. I do think that results like this require a thoughtful response. Learners in Wales are entitled to that. The Member's questions included many, many misrepresentations and factual inaccuracies, which I'm not…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: PISA Results 2022
Our national attendance taskforce met yesterday and will meet again in January. This will help us to think creatively across the system to find solutions to issues that require influence and input beyond the education sector. Dirprwy Lywydd, it's important to…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: PISA Results 2022
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. The PISA results for 2022 are published today, and these are not the results that we would have liked to have seen. While the results are disappointing, the crucial thing is to understand what they tell us, so I believe it is…
