, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Our priority continues to be ensuring that higher education students have access to support that enables them to meet their day-to-day living costs. Our student support system provides support equivalent to the national living wage, with the highest levels of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
I thank Joyce Watson for that supplementary question. She's right to say, of course, that the costs of school uniform are a considerable concern for many families. I wrote to schools over the summer recess, towards the end of the recess, to say to them that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, that is a longer term solution to the challenge that the Member correctly describes as being imminent for schools, and I hope, as I'm sure he will, that when the statement is made on Friday, the Prime Minister will be clear in terms of the commitment…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
It's already happening in some schools in Wales. Schools support families in all sorts of different ways to ensure that they can access support more broadly. One of the considerations mentioned by the First Minister yesterday was the need to ensure that any…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
The cost-of-living crisis is having, and will continue to have, significant impact on all public services, including our schools. The First Minister has already made clear in the Senedd yesterday that only the UK Government has the financial firepower to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, I will take up the invitation to repeat my congratulations to young people in Wales, who have been through a very, very difficult period. I think, in some ways, this last year was the most disruptive in terms of the experience in the classroom, and so…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Qualifications Wales have sought to deliver grade outcomes for approved A-levels and GCSEs that are broadly midway between summer 2019 and summer 2021, at a national level. And the results that were achieved by learners demonstrate their resilience, and I…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
I think that's part of the answer. Actually, I strongly believe that the new curriculum that we're introducing in Wales, which has at its heart, really, a curriculum tailored to the needs of individual learners and putting each learner in the best possible…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
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…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
My oral statement on 22 March set out my intention to tackle the impact of poverty on attainment, and I have put in place a range of measures to realise this ambition.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, that's the risk, as the Member set out. That's why it is so important that the debate happens in a factual and measured manner, because there are a number of challenges facing teachers at the moment. We have introduced a new curriculum and we need to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
The Member makes an important point in the last question. We are working with our partners generally to ensure that accurate information is available and that guidance is available to tackle this. It's very important—and it is a shame that the Conservative…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
General assertions by the Member doesn't create a new reality on the ground. She asserts that there is confusion; she asserts many things in her contribution today. Let's just look at the evidence in reality here. The Member is aware that the code already…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
The generic nature of the Member's allegations, the lack of specificity, the broad-brush approach that she's taking to this question are incredibly unhelpful. The curriculum has been taught for a matter of days, actually, in schools, so I would be interested…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
It is very important that young people in Wales are given an education that enables them to navigate the world in which we live and understand the challenges that young people face, which certainly I didn't face when I was at their age, and that is the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, I would welcome any support that the UK Government is prepared to provide in terms of additional funding to the Welsh Government to support public services and support families across Wales. I think the failure to be clear about that is a significant…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
In terms of workforce salaries, that funding has already been allocated according to the revenue support grant last year. That was the basis for their agreement. I agree with the comments made by Sioned Williams on the pressures on our schools because of the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
The cost-of-living crisis is having, and will continue to have, a significant impact on all public services, including our schools. As the First Minister has made clear, only the UK Government has the financial firepower to tackle the crippling effects of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Well, I refer Mark Isherwood to the answer I gave a moment ago, but I would say, both to him and to Llyr Gruffydd, that, if you would like to write to me about the particular constituent, I would be able to look into that in more detail—unless you have…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
Some changes have already been made. So, HEIW has already increased the allowance available to students with regard to placement accommodation and so on, and transport. So, some steps have already been taken. We've established a programme board for bursaries…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
The Welsh Government is working with Health Education and Improvement Wales to review the NHS Wales bursary scheme. We recognise the impact of increasing costs of living on healthcare professional students and we're working to identify immediate actions that…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Update on Free School Meals
I thank Rhianon Passmore for that important question. I think there'll be a number of positive consequences in the lives of these young learners and their families. The first, immediate effect will be to contribute to alleviating, to some extent, aspects of…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Update on Free School Meals
They've worked incredibly hard to make sure that as many young people as possible are able to benefit from this policy, in accordance with a very, very short time frame, and that applies to all authorities in Wales. As I say, where there are a small number of…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Update on Free School Meals
Sorry, I just want to be clear: authorities are not struggling to deliver on this policy. They've worked incredibly hard to make sure—
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Update on Free School Meals
[Inaudible.]—that Sarah Murphy raises, Dirprwy Lywydd. And the question with which any Government in this situation wrestles, really, is, given the scale of the cost-of-living challenge that families are facing, there is a high premium on rolling out as much…
