Written question WQ84859
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 9 days
Question
What is the Welsh Government doing to increase the number of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers in Wales?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
The Welsh Government has no direct involvement in the numbers of English as a Foreign Language teachers in Wales.
The most recent Welsh Government’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) policy was released in 2018 and updated November 2019. Access to effective ESOL classes is highly important for successful integration of migrant people to Wales. Therefore, ensuring the policy is up to date and relevant is important to ensure the best outcomes for them.
On 29 January 2019, Welsh Government published the Nation of Sanctuary Refugee and Asylum Seeker Plan (gov.wales). The plan contains a range of cross governmental actions to improve outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers in Wales. The plan includes an action to promote essential skills for refuge and asylum-seeking people to improve employability prospects and social cohesion. ESOL remains one of the key priorities for adult learning provision in Wales. When accessing these public services, the provision of ESOL classes for people seeking sanctuary who do not speak English or Welsh is vital for ensuring better outcomes for these individuals, enabling integration, skills development, and employability.
Welsh Government has commissioned a review the ESOL policy for Wales, which will assess the availability and adequacy of ESOL provision in Wales and make viable recommendations for how ESOL provision can be improved. The review will take place between February and July 2022 and produce a detailed mapping of current ESOL provision in Wales and determine how well formal ESOL provision in Wales offers adequate and timely support to learners.
It will determine whether there is sufficient access to other opportunities to develop language skills in informal and social settings, and whether partnerships between formal ESOL Providers and Hubs and informal ESOL Providers are effective. The review will propose viable, evidence informed recommendations for future policy development which will help improve ESOL provision in Wales and address the gaps identified in the review.