, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Yes, absolutely. I'm happy to look into that in more detail and come back to you. As you indicate, there's probably a multiplicity of reasons why this is now the case. But diolch, it's an interesting thing to look into.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Yes, absolutely.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
I don't know whether anybody else has more detailed information on this. It's not something that I was aware of in that level of detail, but I'm very happy to look at it. I suspect that there are a lot of reasons why that might be the case, and speculating on…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
It is.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you. I agreed with one element of his assessment, certainly, in that I think a renewed, long-term, sustained focus on literacy and numeracy will be helpful in our system, and I would expect that to influence the scores in the PISA results in 2030. I…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Yes, of course.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you. I think what's important and what is a change is the fact that we will have a specific national indicator around literacy and numeracy that will give confidence, or give data and information to us, to ensure that we are going in the right direction…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
I don't know, Georgina, whether you want to add to that.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you very much for the question. I think it is an important one and it's also an opportunity to reinforce the central message that I've been putting forward since starting in post, namely the importance of all of the support services for schools, and…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
I'm ready to answer the questions, no problem.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Without the workforce we obviously cannot get to where we would like to be, and it is important that their views are heard and acted upon. We know too that there are challenges with funding, with ALN and with school standards. Last month's Programme for…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
That is very acceptable, and thank you for that direction. Before starting, I would also like to place on the record that I have close members of my family working in education. Good morning to you all and thank you very much for the invitation to come to…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Thank you very much.
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Thank you very much. There were a number of things there, in terms of using the last four minutes very carefully. There are elements, as you mentioned in the question, of extending the standards that need the consent of the Secretary of State, and I am going…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
I think we go back again to that cross-Government work, really. I'm aware, for example, that the Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport has launched a consultation on a new strategy, or has asked people for ideas on the new strategy. Clearly, as a Government…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
I don't know if somebody else wants to start on this, on immersion. Siwan, yes, thanks.
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Thank you. I didn't realise that you had so much Welsh. It sounded very fluent to me. This, again, is a factor that is a priority for us, and it relates to the point that somebody made earlier about opportunities in further education colleges. Increasing the…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Yes. Thank you. I think you're being unkind to yourself there, but I too live in just such a household, and Ti a Fi was a key factor for us. I don't have any details with me on Ti a Fi specifically, but that early years focus, that pre-school focus, as I…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Yes.
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Oh, I haven't spotted 'ameliorate' in the debate so far. I'm going to look out for that now. It would probably be 'gwella'. But I take the point that, obviously, the focus on early years is crucial. I think the work of Mudiad Meithrin, when you consider that…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Thank you very much. I think I may have misunderstood Niamh's question—I apologise, Niamh. I thought you were talking about Welsh as a subject, but perhaps it was a broader point about other subjects through the medium of Welsh. Clearly there has been some…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
It's clear that the subjects that young people study for A-level do ultimately have an impact on the workforce that we have available to us. So, that's certainly a live part of our discussion, to encourage people. The young people that I've spoken to who have…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Thank you very much. And, clearly, this is a challenge that we've identified as well, and I know that the Deputy Minister has focused specifically on this. Therefore, discussions are happening with the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and also with Medr, to ensure…
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Yes, of course.
, Culture, Communications, Cymraeg and Sport Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session: Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
This clearly is something that has been the subject of focus by the previous Government, I think, as well. But we have committed to doing some additional things, such as incentive payments for those who want to teach through the medium of Welsh, and there are…
