Tens of thousands of school pupils in Wales have been effectively written off by the First Minister, yet no-one has taken responsibility.
That was the message from the Welsh Conservatives today, as Assembly group leader Andrew RT Davies AM questioned the First Minister in the Senedd.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) takes places every three years. Despite Wales’ woeful performance in 2009, there has been no promise of improvement during this year’s tests.
Instead, the Education Minister has earmarked 2015 for a better showing from Wales. This effectively disregards tens of thousands of pupils currently passing through the Welsh education system.
40 per cent of pupils start secondary school unable to read properly in Wales, yet the First Minister today refused to say who was responsible.
The Education Minister has admitted there is a ‘systemic failure’ in the system he controls, yet his party has controlled that system for 13 years.
Speaking outside the Assembly Chamber, Welsh Conservative Assembly Group Leader Andrew RT Davies said:
“Essentially, it’s a bad time to be a teenager in Wales.
“There is absolutely no government guarantee that secondary school pupils who are in the system right now will perform any better than their recent counterparts.
“Global pupils test results cast a shadow over Welsh classrooms in 2010. Two years on, we can expect nothing better for the foreseeable future. Why?
“It’s time the First Minister took responsibility for his party’s consistent failings and apologised to the tens of thousands of teenagers who are being ignored.”
