Education Spokesperson Simon Thomas has said that the annual Estyn report findings are a major test for the Welsh government and makes the case for Plaid’s emphasis on literacy in Welsh schools.
He was also critical of Tory plans for education in Wales and their proposals to slash funding for schools in Wales. He said that their plans to cut the education budget by up to a fifth would make an already worrying situation far worse.
The report outlines:
- Performance in four out of five primary schools and two out of three secondary schools inspected is mainly good.
- It highlights that 25% of schools need follow-up visits by Estyn, including 5% that are causing serious concern. Another 20% of schools require follow-up visits by their local councils
- Children and young peoples’ reading and writing skills are still a concern. Inspectors found underperformance at every key stage among a significant minority of pupils.
- One area of weakness in many schools is the variation in the quality of teaching and learning.
- Teachers and managers need to plan lessons more effectively to develop pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills in all subjects.
- The Foundation Phase is a success in the majority of schools.
Plaid’s Education spokesperson Simon Thomas said: “This report is a major test for the Welsh Education Minister, Leighton Andrews and the Labour government. Plaid Cymru has been highlighting the need to improve literacy and numeracy skills for some time.
“In light of this recent report it is clear that we need radical action and leadership from Education Minister, Leighton Andrews on this matter.
“Instead of asking why a child is failing, we need to ask why the teaching method is failing the child. Where this is happening we need to look at alternative teaching methods and that is why Plaid is proposing the introduction of techniques such as synthetic phonics.
“Standards of literacy impact on society and the economy as a whole and education must be prioritised as an issue. It is vital that education is properly funded by government and that’s why the Tories proposals to continue to slash education funding are so shocking. Under their plans each school would see their budget cut by at least £40,000, this would have devastating consequences for pupils.
“It is also just as important that the teaching methods employed are fit for purpose. That is why Plaid is calling for a root and branch review to be carried out on our education system. We want to have the structures and systems in place to ensure that the education that our children are getting is the best that it can possibly be.”
