Today’s debate, and my contribution to it, seeks to highlight the issue of pupils that are EOTAS…‘Educated Other than at School’. By this, I refer to those who have been subject to an expulsion or exclusion from their school and their class surroundings

It is of course welcome that permanent exclusions have continued to decline from the peak of 2004/05. But in 2010/11 Wales still had a higher rate of permanent exclusions than Scotland, and higher rate of fixed-term exclusions than both Scotland and England.

My contribution today addresses some of the underlying causes of exclusions in Wales

90% of children and young people categorized as EOTAS have some form of special educational need. The Children and Young people committee heard how, often children and young people with identified support needs fall out of the system.

This adds further concern to the reneging on the part of the Welsh Government to include specific details on support for learners with additional learning needs in the forthcoming Education (Wales) Bill….

Professor Ken Reid stated in his evidence to the CYP Committee that there needs to be much more comprehensive training afforded to teachers on behaviour and attendance management. The Welsh Government should be working with teachers, and their representative bodies, to ensure that this worrying trend is turned around.

Low attainment in education is a problem for those pupils and for society as a whole. The Princes’ Trust and London School of Economics estimated that the financial cost to the UK economy of poor educational achievement was £18 billion. Almost half of all the young people they surveyed felt that a lack of qualifications prevented them from achieving their ultimate goals and ambitions. We have a responsibility to support these children who often feel isolated, become withdrawn, insular and in later life could potentially experience higher than average rates of conditions such as depression.

But how to address this blight on the aspirations of children and young people? As a starting point, the Welsh Government must place emphasis on supporting reintegration of excluded students to ensure they don’t suffer further isolation and despair. Flying Start, Communities First, Families First and other schemes need to be reviewed in a way that improves their overall effectiveness and ensures tangible results are attained in supporting our most vulnerable and disadvantaged families. There also needs to be comprehensive support, reflected in policy, for students with ALN or SEN.

Our children and young people are all unique individuals, often with many skills, interests and abilities not always identified or recognised through the bureaucratic monitoring system. We should be providing access to the right education for them, either through academic avenues, or different more imaginative curricular activities. Activities that work with disengaged young people teaching them a range of practical skills, such as, sailing, rock climbing and enjoying the great outdoors.

If we continue to allow any child to fall behind in education, suffer the long term effects on their health and forever ruin their chances it will be to our detriment. The facts are stark. We know the failings, we know the outcomes…we know, the challenges. Now, it is up to us whether we do something about it.