Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:03 pm on 4 June 2024.
Tom Giffard
Conservative
2:03,
4 June 2024
The First Minister has been talking a lot about the last 14 years. Well, in the last 14 years in England, we've seen massive growth in the education sector in England, thanks to Conservative-led reforms that have delivered the best Programme for International Student Assessment results anywhere in the UK consistently. Meanwhile, the Welsh Labour Government refuses to follow suit, presiding over the worst education scores anywhere in the UK and getting worse.
Now, the initial teacher education priority subject incentive scheme, as the First Minister outlined, includes physics as a profession that can be taught via it. The Welsh Government targeted the recruitment of 61 students to complete the ITE programme for 2023-24. Do you want to know how many did qualify in 2023-24? Three. Is it not, First Minister, one lesson that we can learn from Wales and the Welsh Labour Government that you just can't trust Labour when it comes to education?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
