Welcome for new education strategy and curriculum postponement
This week the Welsh Government launched its strategy for education over the next four years and announced a delay to the implementation of the new curriculum. This is how politicians, unions, teachers’ leaders and commentators responded to the plan, entit
Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education:
“Finally, the Cabinet Secretary has accepted what we have been warning for several months – the new National Curriculum should not be rushed through.
“Teachers and experts have expressed their concern that the Welsh Government has continued to attempt too many reforms at the same time without ensuring that the system has the capacity to implement them.
“It was naive of the Government to think that it can push through reforms to unrealistic time frames.
“It is interesting to see that the Cabinet Secretary has now adopted the target of achieving 500 in all PISA domains by 2021. This is very embarrassing for her after she previously dismissed it, insisting that it’s ‘not my target’. Clearly, the Labour Government is imposing its own targets, and the Cabinet Secretary has lost face. It looks like this action plan is their action plan.”
Tim Pratt, director of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru:
“ASCL Cymru welcomes the Cabinet Secretary’s statement about raising standards further in Wales.
“We are particularly pleased to see that there is now a sensible time line for the introduction of the new curriculum, which incorporates a phased rollout. This will allow school leaders and teachers to focus their attention on ensuring that the appropriate learning, knowledge and skill set for each year group are properly prepared and understood before it is taught.
“We look forward to the reform of accountability measures in schools so that the system promotes a breadth of curriculum and allows each student to strive to reach their full potential.
“We are pleased to see that the Welsh Government is taking on board the recommendations of the OECD, and will be taking steps to ensure the progress that has been made in education in Wales is carried forward to provide the best possible opportunities for our young people.
Rob Williams, policy director of the National Association of Head Teachers Cymru:
“The Cabinet Secretary’s launch of Education in Wales: Our National Mission clearly illustrates the ambition and scale of reform currently under way in Welsh education.
“From the very outset, NAHT Cymru has been saying that, in terms of the new curriculum, it should be about successful implementation and not simply getting something in place by a given date.
“Our message has always been that a pragmatic approach to time scales may be required, because we are embarking on large-scale change using an innovative process never before undertaken.
“It is right to recognise the need for deadlines, but we should not be held to ransom by them to the potential detriment of the final curriculum.
“The Cabinet Secretary rightly identifies our common aim for an excellent education system in Wales and the plans clearly reaffirm the need to secure greater equity for children and young people.
“Keeping wellbeing at the centre of education policy is also welcome. Every day in every school, teachers and school leaders see the clear link between mental health, wellbeing and a pupil’s ability to learn.
That is why any developing accountability system must recognise the incredible impact school leaders and staff have on our most vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils.
“It is also clear that effective and ongoing professional learning for all staff is essential in order to secure the successes outlined in the Action Plan.
This is a message confirmed by international evidence and articulated clearly, and frequently, by the OECD.
“The profession, therefore, has a clear responsibility to continually reflect and develop, but we will need to be equipped with sufficient, fairly distributed funding and resources in order to fully play our part.
“Such investment is the only way to reap the rewards we want for our children and young people.”
Dr Philip Dixon, education expert whose recent book examined the history of curriculum reform in Wales:
“This is both a sensible and a brave decision.
It’s sensible because we now have time to think through all the proposed changes in a robust and unhurried way.
It’s brave because the Cabinet Secretary could have just tried to soldier on regardless. Instead she has shown true leadership in announcing this slowing down of the reform process.
“The announcement that the implementation is to be staggered over several years is particularly welcome, as it will give us time to tease out all the intricacies in this very complicated process.
“Curriculum reform can only be done once in a generation. This more realistic timetable gives us confidence that we will now get it right.”
It is right to recognise the need for deadlines, but we should not be held to ransom by them to the potential detriment of the final curriculum
Emeritus Professor David Egan
from Cardiff School of Education, Cardiff Metropolitan University:
“Education in Wales: Our National Mission provides a coherent and compelling vision for the development of education in Wales over the next four years.
“It is the kind of visionary statement that has been lacking since The Learning Country in 2001 set out a road-map for the first period of devolution. What is particularly welcome in this document is the commitment to develop policies which are well-founded on robust educational research and other forms of evidence.
“Vision, of course, is one thing – implementation another. The implementation of The Learning Country was patchy – particularly in offering our teenagers qualifications and progression routes that could lead them into decent future employment.
“If the vision set out in this new strategy is to succeed, implementation in this and other education policy areas over the next four years and beyond will need to be much stronger.”
Gareth Evans, director of education policy at the Institute of Education, University of Wales Trinity Saint David:
“The staggered roll-out of Wales’ new national curriculum is to be welcomed.
“Curriculum reform, guided for the most part by the profession, is an organic process that cannot be rushed. The original timetable for implementation always looked ambitious – a view supported by the Assembly’s education committee earlier this year.
“It is far better to take our time and get Successful Futures right, than force it through and get it wrong – the consequences of doing so are unthinkable.
“In the meantime, it is important that we maintain momentum and keep a strong focus on raising standards. We can ill-afford to take our eye off the ball with PISA a little over a year away.”
David Evans, Wales Secretary of the National Education Union – the new union created by the amalgamation of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and National Union of Teachers (NUT):
“This announcement will be welcomed by the teaching profession and shows that the Cabinet Secretary is listening to the concerns that have been raised and is acting on the best advice and evidence available to her.
“There is a true consensus behind the new curriculum. The sector is on board with the Welsh Government’s vision, but we must all make sure we are not risking that good will by rushing its implementation.
“The new time scales offer a better opportunity to develop the rigour of the system.
At the same time, changes to the way it will be introduced, moving from a ‘big bang’ approach to a phased roll-out, will make for a much smoother transition process which better supports school staff and pupils.
“The National Education Union have warned that the delivery of the new curriculum was not going to work under the old time frame and so we are certainly delighted that the Cabinet Secretary has taken our views on board and has set in place a more realistic and promising strategy.”
This announcement shows the Cabinet Secretary is listening to the concerns that have been raised and is acting on the best advice and evidence available to her