First Minister’s Questions - Education

Janet Finch-Saunders:

First Minister, over the past 10 years, under your Government, Wales has fallen 14 places against other nations in standards of science, fallen behind nine places in maths and fallen behind 11 places in reading. More than 30 per cent of 15 to 16-year-olds have not reached the levels of literacy and numeracy that do allow them to communicate and operate effectively in the workplace—that’s according to Estyn’s own figures. One could say that your programme for government has certainly failed over the past five years. This, of course, then leads to disengagement with the education system of young people. A Welsh Conservative Government would see the introduction of university technical colleges that would foster apprenticeships that lead to high-quality, sustainable jobs. Will you support our policy?

The First Minister:

The Member will have to forgive my scepticism, because she represents a party that got rid of the Future Jobs fund and removed one of the most important schemes for assisting young people into work that existed, which is why, of course, we introduced Jobs Growth Wales, the most successful scheme for creating opportunities for young people, I would argue, in Europe. It’s why we’ll build on that to ensure that there are opportunities available for all ages. What she doesn’t explain, of course, is that her leader, amongst his many troubles on Saturday, including being ignored by David Cameron, said that he would only protect one budget. He would not protect the budget for apprenticeships. Now, on that basis, what the Member is suggesting is that there will be a new scheme in place, but with no money. We will make sure, in what we are planning to do, that there are opportunities available for all. Given the track record of the Conservatives with their cutting of the Future Jobs fund, their cutting of support for those who want education, their cutting of the education maintenance allowance and ensuring that students have to pay far more in England, the answer to your question is: ‘No, we don’t agree because their track record is appalling.’