Carwyn restates education commitment
Carwyn repeats his pledge on the last day of campaigning
Elaborating on his pledge to increase spending on education from 2011 onwards, Carwyn told Welsh teachers that it was ambition to put Wales on a par with England in the years to come, when it comes to expenditure: “I believe that education is the route out of poverty and, as a consequence, my government would look to increase education spending by at least 1% above the percentage increase in the block grant we receive from the UK Government to ensure the best outcomes for Welsh children, with a sharp focus on inequalities in education. I want to see the gap in education spending between Wales and England closed and I will seek to initiate this increase from 2011-2012.”
He concluded his letter by pledging to work in partnership with all teaching unions in Wales, saying: “Of course, many of my policies can only be introduced by working with teaching unions in Wales. I look forward, if elected, to discussing and engaging with your organisation to bring my vision to fruition, in the years to come.”
The education funding pledge is probably the most striking of the manifesto commitments Carwyn has made, and it is no surprise that he has reiterated it today.
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What I find interesting about this is the admission by a cabinet minister that there is a gap between education spending in England and Wales after years of successive Assembly Education MInisters arguing to the contrary. One of the problems with laudable promises such as this is that no one yet knows what the Settlement will be for the last year of the present Assembly. We will have an indication of Labour’s direction of travel when it comes to public finance when the Chancellor delivers his pre budget report. But there is still no indication of if or when the next comprehensive spending review will be published. As for the Tories we will have to wait for their first budget assuming that they will be the UK government after June.The other problem is that if you promise to ring fence one area of public spending you have to increase the cutbacks in other areas. Education can obviously reduce the intergenerational transmission of child poverty. Too many children are living in poverty in Wales because even when their parents are working they are too often employed in low skilled occupations and therefore receive low pay. Politicians often talk of producing a new Welsh economy with high skills and high paid employment but in reality very little progress has been made towards this goal in the last 10 years. Extra money for education would obviously be welcomed but it has to be targeted at those areas where there is real deprivation and those groups which are not performing well. In England the group with the lowest achievement at key stage 2 are white boys in receipt of free school meals. Child poverty in Bridgend,for example, will not be reduced if there is a blanket increase in the funding of all schools including schools in the prosperous south of the borough. We should also ensure that any extra money does result in improved outcomes. Questions should be asked why some schools perform better than others even though they have similar catchment areas. Of course, the non publication of results doesn’t help anyone to see how public money is being spent. Only last week, I was told that my local comprehensive had 17 unclassified results at A level. Given how easy the present A level is that should be a cause for concern for everyone in the valley. Unfortunately because of the decision not to to publish results, education in much of Wales is still ‘a secret garden’ to quote Jim Callaghan.