Report assesses how farWales’ education reforms have come
This week’s report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on the progress of Wales’ education reforms has been broadly welcomed by the sector, although teachers’ union the NUT said it held few surprises and the Welsh Conservatives said it pointed to “glaring weaknesses”.
The document – The Welsh Education Reform Journey: A Rapid Policy Assessment – said the Welsh Government’s reforms are on track but teaching must change and leadership needs to be strengthened to drive up standards.
It adds that everyone involved – from local education authorities to teachers, schools and the Welsh Government – must be clear about what is expected of them as plans progress to deliver the new curriculum to all three to 16-year-olds by 2021.
On funding, OECD director of education policy Andreas Schleicher queried whether Wales spends enough on education and said it must think hard about where best to target funds to improve the quality of teaching.
The report suggested looking at central funding for schools to ensure money goes where it is most needed, rather than leaving the 22 local councils to set their own priorities.
It said teachers must learn new skills throughout their career and said some in the education sector had queried whether enough had the skills needed for assessments.
It warned that when an OECD team visited Wales last November it was noted by people working in education that: “There are still many teachers at all levels who lack the skills to implement quality formative assessments and use assessment data to support students in their learning. This makes it hard for them to adequately respond to students’ individual learning needs.”
Responding to the findings, NUT Cymru Secretary David Evans said the report held no surprises.
“In many cases, what the report outlines are age-old arguments that everyone is very aware of and, in principle, committed to improving.
“Recommendations such as raising the status of the profession, ensuring quality continued professional development and developing a long-term vision for education are exactly what previous reports by the OECD and others have stated.
“In part, we can reflect on this as a consistent narrative that supports the direction unions have been setting and, at least in recent years, the Welsh Government have been more aligned with. At the same time, it is somewhat depressing that once again these recommendations are problems that are outstanding.
“The Welsh Government will no doubt reflect on this report as a vindication of some of their approach. Certainly, in the round, it does confirm that on many things we have been working in partnership in the right way. It is clearly a better endorsement than the last OECD report. However there must not be complacency and there will need to be some deep and honest thinking about why some of the same issues are being highlighted again.”
Welsh Conservative Shadow Education Secretary Darren Millar AM backed proposals for a national funding formula.
“The OECD report points to some glaring weaknesses in the Welsh Labour Government’s plans for education reform and makes some incisive recommendations – particularly around the need for stronger leadership in the development of the new curriculum and moving towards a national school funding formula,” he said.
“Currently schools are funded via local authorities and some councils top-slice too much money for town hall bureaucracy before a penny even reaches the classroom.
“A national formula with funding targeted directly at schools would put all learners – whether in rural or urban settings – on a more equal footing, releasing more resources into the classroom.
“We also welcome strengthening the linking of evidence and research to education policy – the Cabinet Secretary’s expensive experiment to reduce class sizes to 25, in spite of a lack of evidence, will cost taxpayers tens of millions and deliver little return.
“The OECD’s proposal to reduce the administrative burden on school leaders by encouraging the hiring of business managers is also welcome, but it is difficult to see how this will be affordable for smaller schools.”
The Association of School and Col-
lege Leaders Cymru said it supported the recommendations in the report.
ASCL Cymru director Tim Pratt said: “We are glad that the OECD has recognised the significant steps forward that the Welsh education system has made, and are encouraged by the positive and practical recommendations for further developments contained in the report.
“In particular, we would highlight our support for the following.
“The need for leadership development to be a ‘prime driver of Wales’ reform’. We would encourage the development of a national leadership programme and are keen to work with the new National Academy for Educational Leadership to facilitate its establishment and delivery.
“The need for greater clarity and control in the allocation of core budgets to schools. ASCL has long called for greater equity in the allocation of school budgets and would support the OECD’s call for a needsbased approach to funding. We would encourage the establishment of a common system of allocating funding that would be required of all local authorities.
“The need for greater coherence in the various curriculum and assessment reform initiatives, and more clarity in communicating the progress being made. Whilst many of our members are involved in developing the new curriculum, there are many others that are not yet directly involved, and we support the need for all schools to feel fully involved and made more aware of the direction of travel in this critical phase of the reform journey.”
Dr Philip Dixon, an expert on Welsh education since devolution and former director of the ATL Cymru, said parts of the report were encouraging and he hoped Wales’ education reforms would lead to improved pupil results in the OECD’s international PISA tests, in which Wales’ 15-year-olds lag behind other UK nations in English, science and maths.
He said: “It is encouraging to see that the OECD thinks that we are broadly on track with the direction our education system is now taking. Hopefully these reforms will pay off in future PISA results.
“But we must also note the warnings given by the OECD about the need for policy coherence and the challenge posed by the Donaldson reform. It is also interesting to note that the jury is out about whether or not the amount of funding is sufficient.”
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams said: “I invited the OECD to come to Wales to challenge what we are doing to reform our education system and I welcome their findings. They have concluded that we are making progress and we have a longterm vision in place to keep improving.
“We are already taking action on many of their recommendations – from creating a new national academy for leadership, transforming initial teacher education, launching new professional standards and introducing a national approach to professional learning.”