6. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on progress in funding level-5 status training for teaching assistants? OAQ51276

Thank you very much, Mr McEvoy. There are a number of opportunities for teaching assistants to undertake vocational courses endorsed by Qualifications Wales up to level 3. There are level 5 courses, which are foundation degrees and are delivered by higher education providers. Individuals can access a range of funding sources to undertake these courses.   

Okay, thanks. Level 5 is not a qualification but it's a status. It brings no increase in pay. Level 1 teaching assistants can attain it—this is all from a teaching assistant who's raised concerns with me. Training takes just six weeks—just three days out of school. Only a single piece of work needs to be prepared for a child, a group or a class. The qualification you need to do it is a single GCSE in maths or English. I think, really, this is just another example of education being used as a cash cow to pay for meaningless not even qualifications in this case, which make non-teaching staff able to undertake more responsibilities without extra pay. The question behind all this, on behalf of the members of staff who contacted me, is: how is this masquerade any use at all in raising standards?

I have made a commitment in 'Education in Wales: Our national mission—Action Plan 2017-21' to ensure our teachers are well supported by a range of learning support professionals who can provide the additional capacity that is needed to meet the needs of every child. Let me be absolutely clear on the opportunities that are available. Support is available for teaching assistants to access up to £1,500 of funding through the Welsh Government learning grant to undertake vocational qualifications. As of next year, when we implement our Diamond review, there will be a fairer mechanism for supporting access to foundation degrees and additional funding of £920,000 has been provided to regional consortia to deliver a number of programmes that support the professional learning of teaching assistants, including the delivery of a higher level teaching assistants scheme, which is provided to them free of charge. In addition, training will shortly be offered to those who need to meet the minimum requirements relating to literacy and numeracy qualifications to undertake the higher level teaching assistant scheme. Crucially, next year, in 2018, we will put in place professional standards for assisting teaching in schools to contribute to our raising standards agenda.

Cabinet Secretary, you've been in position now for some 18 months. What is your assessment of the capacity within the education system for teachers and teaching assistants to be able to take on the training that they require for continuous professional development and in particular to raise standards? There is one thing bringing your policy document forward and allocating resource to that, there's another separate issue about the capacity of the system to be able to create the time and the space for that training to be undertaken. I'd be interested to hear what your opinion is now, after 18 months in post, of the ability of the education system here in Wales to provide those training opportunities, both for teaching assistants but also for professional teachers as well.

Thank you, Andrew, for what I think is a very fair point. We have resources allocated to continuous professional learning of our teaching and non-teaching staff. We are developing a national approach, so regardless of where you find yourself employed in Wales, you will have access to moderated and robust training programmes. It is right to identify the challenge of creating the space for teachers and support staff to do that. There are a number of ways in which we are looking at supporting: there are traditional in-service training days that are available to schools, but I believe the best professional learning often happens when children are in the classroom themselves; there are a number of schools, for instance, that are looking at an asymmetric week, which actually allows teachers some time at the end of the school working week to be able to work together to address continual professional learning needs; and we continue to look to work with schools to ensure that the resources are there, the courses are there and we create the time to allow professionals to undertake that. It is also about setting the expectation of school leaders that they will release their staff for training, and that's an important part of our new professional standards that set the expectation that teachers will be continuous learners throughout their professional career and that they can demand that of their school leadership.