Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Missing the point
Today's Western Mail leads on a lecture by the Welsh Education Minister in which he indulges in the language of class war to attack his UK counterparts. Leighton Andrews attacked the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government’s record on education and welfare reform and accused it of a policy of “English exceptionalism” and a failure to consult with the devolved administrations that can be traced back to the public school system.
It certainly got the headlines, even though the direction of welfare reform has the broad support of the UK Labour Party whilst outcomes for pupils in England continue to be better than those for Welsh school children.
The problems with the Welsh education system were highlighted in stark terms in the same paper. They reported that the Welsh Schools Inspectorate, Estyn believe that secondary schools in Wales are not doing enough to promote key skills in the classroom.
They believe that more needs to be done to make sure children aged between 11 and 14 in Welsh schools are developing core communication, numeracy and thinking skills. They say that despite “good opportunities” to develop key skills across all subjects, very few schools have a “coherent and well-planned” approach to their delivery. They were also critical of the Welsh Government’s Skills Framework, which “does not significantly influence planning in most secondary schools”.
The Welsh Education Minister needs to put his own house in order before criticising others.
It certainly got the headlines, even though the direction of welfare reform has the broad support of the UK Labour Party whilst outcomes for pupils in England continue to be better than those for Welsh school children.
The problems with the Welsh education system were highlighted in stark terms in the same paper. They reported that the Welsh Schools Inspectorate, Estyn believe that secondary schools in Wales are not doing enough to promote key skills in the classroom.
They believe that more needs to be done to make sure children aged between 11 and 14 in Welsh schools are developing core communication, numeracy and thinking skills. They say that despite “good opportunities” to develop key skills across all subjects, very few schools have a “coherent and well-planned” approach to their delivery. They were also critical of the Welsh Government’s Skills Framework, which “does not significantly influence planning in most secondary schools”.
The Welsh Education Minister needs to put his own house in order before criticising others.
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"The Welsh Education Minister needs to put his own house in order before criticising others."
'Too Right!' The latest round of university world rankings are out and once again Wales does not have a university in the top 100 whereas Scotland has three.
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'Too Right!' The latest round of university world rankings are out and once again Wales does not have a university in the top 100 whereas Scotland has three.
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