(Title Image: Senedd Research Service)
- Call for the Welsh Government to learn from the summer’s mistakes and make a quick decision on next year’s external school exams.
- Plaid Cymru criticised for submitting an overly broad motion which covers several separate topics at the same time.
- Education Minister says a decision on exams will be announced after half-term following an independent review.
The Motion
This is the abridged version. Regardless of who tables it, if I see a motion drafted like this again – unless it’s a binding vote – I’m not going to cover it. As one of my old primary school teachers would say: “Slapdash!”
The Senedd:
- Calls on the Welsh Government to:
- provide reassurance to pupils and teachers by replacing exams in summer 2021 with teacher assessments;
- reform assessments and qualifications align to the new curriculum by scrapping GCSE and A-Levels;
- ensure the new curriculum facilitates fluency in Welsh as a norm;
- ensure every pupil has an understanding of Wales’s diverse heritage by making the history of Wales, including black and people of colour history, a mandatory element in the Curriculum Bill;
- uphold the rights of pupils to have Welsh-medium education by promoting the precedents arising from the judgement in Driver v. RCT County Borough Council;
- ensure mental health is given due attention in the Curriculum Bill, and monitor medium and long-term trends in mental health provision in schools;
- support university students learning from home by ensuring they have access to adequate broadband and equipment, and urgently assess the need to safely reopen workspaces for students who can’t work at home;
- prevent apprentices from slipping into poverty by guaranteeing full wage protections during workplace closures, and provide additional support if they’re made redundant;
- uphold the legal rights of students by ensuring they’re treated equally with regards to Covid-19 restrictions, including a guarantee that students can return home before the Christmas period with appropriate safeguards in place.
Learn from this summer’s mistakes
Sian Gwenllian MS (Plaid, Arfon) went into further detail on her party’s lengthy motion, the most immediate matter being next year’s external examinations.
“Plaid Cymru has been saying since the summer that A-Levels and GCSEs shouldn’t be held next year either….We were of the opinion that making a swift decision, before the schools reopened, even, in September, would be a fair way of moving forward, and that our young people, teachers and parents would know what to expect and what would happen, with plenty of time to change direction and to change arrangements. Teacher assessments could be used, and there would be plenty of time for a sensible approach in terms of standardisation.”
– Sian Gwenllian MS
While sharing some of Plaid’s concerns about the future of education, Shadow Education Minister, Suzy Davies MS (Con, South Wales West), though there was a fine balance between innovation and recklessness when it comes to exams.
Cancelling them would be akin to “throwing in the towel”, though Delyth Jewell MS (Plaid, South Wales East) thought it was more a case of learning from mistakes – young people have enough to worry about without one-off grades which will decide their future and reported low levels of happiness at school.
Decision on 2021’s exams to be announced after half term
There were several complaints – including from the Minister herself – that the motion was far too broad and covered multiple topics at the same time, rendering it useless for a debate. It was defended by Helen Mary Jones MS (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) as properly reflecting the complex problems facing the education system at this time.
“Unlike the Westminster Government, I have established an independent review to help us learn those lessons and to provide recommendations for how qualifications are assessed in 2021. Qualifications Wales will also be providing further advice about how assessment should be completed in 2021, given the continuing disruption of COVID-19 to those exam classes’ education. I will look at both pieces of advice and then will make a decision immediately after the half-term break.”
– Education Minister, Kirsty Williams (Lib Dem, Brecon & Radnor)
Vote
Despite several well-intentioned attempts to amend the motion, given how it was drafted I wouldn’t read anything into this at all.
