After working in Wales for most of my career it takes a lot to really shock me because dreadful performance and statistics are so common they are easily ignored by Ministers and reports detailing the full horrors of Wales's under performance across the board lost their shock value long ago due to the regularity they are published, but today’s report on the state of Welsh education while not entirely surprising should be a wakeup call.
The results from the PISA test showing Wales falling even further behind the UK and International average should be a wakeup call for all those involved in Welsh education. The report showed that Wales was the lowest ranked country in the UK and also that Wales ranked alongside the Czech Republic in terms of reading ability for 15 years olds.
The response from all sides has been totally predictable, we have had some strong words from WAG’s Education Minister Leighton Andrews on the needs to improve, but no acknowledgment from him or his colleagues that anything they have done over the past 10 years in relation to devolved education policy helped to contribute to the mess.
That was followed by repeated calls to close the gap between Wales and England in terms of pupil funding from the Opposition in Cardiff Bay, it would mean something if WAG would accept that the funding gap is an issue. Sadly for Welsh school kids it’s unlikely to be addressed any time soon by the Welsh Government and the Opposition is in danger of sounding like a stuck record on the matter and making it easier for the powers that be to ignore.
My suspicion is that this report like so many others will be a one day wonder, with lots of heat and light generated today and by tomorrow it will be forgotten as the press and political caravan moves on, but if we really value our kids education then the political class and the education establishment shouldn’t be allowed to ignore this and should finally get a grip of the issues facing Welsh education or there will be precious little chance of Wales succeeding on the International stage anytime in the future.
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