Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Has two decades of devolution failed Welsh children?
A new analysis by the Education Policy Institute suggests that pupils from poorer backgrounds in Wales are about two years behind their peers. As the BBC reports, by the time they sit their GCSEs, poorer pupils are on average 22 to 23 months behind, with those identified as long-term poor up to 29 months behind.
They add that the figures are based on results from three years ago but researchers say pupils have almost certainly fallen further behind over the Covid pandemic:
The gap is at its highest - between 25 and 28 months - in Wrexham, Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Pembrokeshire and Neath Port Talbot.
Cardiff, Swansea and Ceredigion were among the areas where it is narrower, though it still amounts to 17 to 20 months.
Researchers compared data for Wales with England where more disadvantaged pupils were around 18 months behind classmates.
As the BBC's Education and Family Correspondent, Bethan Lewis says, this report will make uncomfortable reading for a government which has talked a lot about the priority it places on closing the attainment gap. There's been very little progress over a decade despite the millions invested in grants and other initiatives.
OF course the pupil development grant, introduced in Wales by the Welsh Liberal Democrats was set up to tackle precisely this problem. But it's monetary value has been allowed to fall back in real terms, and there is now a clear need to better focus it, to ensure that it is achieving the expected outcomes.
That may involve providing additional resources so as to intervene in a child's education at a much earlier age, and being stricter in the way schools spend the money, but also, as the headteacher of Treorchy Comprehensive School says, we have to recognise that this is a complex situation, and look at evidence elsewhere as to how we can improve the wellbeing and needs of a young person and their families.
We have had more than two decades of devolution in Wales, where we have been able to dictate our own policies on a wide range of issues. And yet we are still one of the most deprived parts of the United Kingdom, and that is working its way through into poorer health outcomes and lower educational achievement.
This is a huge wake-up call for the Welsh Government. They need to carry out a root and branch review of the way they run Wales, in an effort to put things right. If they fail to do even that, then somebody else must be tasked to do the job.
They add that the figures are based on results from three years ago but researchers say pupils have almost certainly fallen further behind over the Covid pandemic:
The gap is at its highest - between 25 and 28 months - in Wrexham, Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Pembrokeshire and Neath Port Talbot.
Cardiff, Swansea and Ceredigion were among the areas where it is narrower, though it still amounts to 17 to 20 months.
Researchers compared data for Wales with England where more disadvantaged pupils were around 18 months behind classmates.
As the BBC's Education and Family Correspondent, Bethan Lewis says, this report will make uncomfortable reading for a government which has talked a lot about the priority it places on closing the attainment gap. There's been very little progress over a decade despite the millions invested in grants and other initiatives.
OF course the pupil development grant, introduced in Wales by the Welsh Liberal Democrats was set up to tackle precisely this problem. But it's monetary value has been allowed to fall back in real terms, and there is now a clear need to better focus it, to ensure that it is achieving the expected outcomes.
That may involve providing additional resources so as to intervene in a child's education at a much earlier age, and being stricter in the way schools spend the money, but also, as the headteacher of Treorchy Comprehensive School says, we have to recognise that this is a complex situation, and look at evidence elsewhere as to how we can improve the wellbeing and needs of a young person and their families.
We have had more than two decades of devolution in Wales, where we have been able to dictate our own policies on a wide range of issues. And yet we are still one of the most deprived parts of the United Kingdom, and that is working its way through into poorer health outcomes and lower educational achievement.
This is a huge wake-up call for the Welsh Government. They need to carry out a root and branch review of the way they run Wales, in an effort to put things right. If they fail to do even that, then somebody else must be tasked to do the job.
