Angry Mark Drakeford criticises Education Minister as school holiday plans are shelved

Watch Angry Mark Drakeford criticises Education Minister as school holiday plans are shelved - Tindle News on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00the Labour Party at the last election and the minister shouldn't seek to shelter behind semantics

00:06in saying to me that this was a commitment to explore reform of the school day because

00:11she knows perfectly well that her predecessor published a plan, not an exploration, but a plan

00:18to implement that commitment and that will now not be happening in this Senedd too.

00:25And what was that plan? It would have moved one week, one week in five years from the school

00:34holidays in the summer to the autumn half term. Nobody I think could claim that the government

00:40was rushing headlong down some radical path but it was a start, it was a start on a journey that

00:46would have improved the outcomes for children in Wales and you know I regret the political damage,

00:54I regret the reputational damage that will be done to Wales just as other parts of the United

01:00Kingdom were looking at Wales and pointing to us as an example of what a progressive

01:04government could do. What I really regret is the damage that will be done to the life chances

01:10of the children who are at the heart of this policy. So colleagues here will know of the

01:17difficulties experienced on the Ely estates here in Cardiff. I say to the Cabinet Secretary,

01:24the children that I am concerned about, their families will not be worrying as was said in

01:30your statement about the quality of life opportunities that come with an extended

01:35summer break. Those families will approach the summer holidays in a spirit of anxiety,

01:42sometimes amounting to fear and the life chances of those children rely absolutely

01:50on what the school can do for them and the fantastic schools that there are on the estate

01:59who do so much to invest in those children who have no chances otherwise and who work through

02:07them all from September to July. And in July, those children have had—

02:13Y Llywydd, Heaven David is seeking to heckle at this point. I'm allowing the Member to carry on

02:19with his contribution. Mark Drakeford. Diolch, Llywydd, diolch. Those children in July

02:25have had the benefit of everything that that school can do and then those children go away.

02:30Y Llywydd, excuse me, this is—don't question my decision to allow Mark Drakeford to—this

02:36isn't—you said this is ridiculous, me allowing Mark Drakeford to continue. It's not. I've allowed

02:41you discretion time after time to continue on important issues for yourself, so remember that,

02:47Heaven David. I'm allowing Mark Drakeford to continue. Diolch, Llywydd. When those children

02:54go away in July, in those six weeks, they will not see a book. They will have no opportunity

03:00to play in a way that allows them to appreciate what maths can do for them in their lives. And

03:07when they come back in September, the school starts all over again. The idea that there is

03:12no learning loss in the lives of those children is absolutely absurd. What this policy would have

03:19done, it would have begun to close the gap in the lives of those children. Here is a Government

03:26which could have done something to help them. It has decided not to. What explanation does

03:32the Cabinet Secretary think I should offer those children who now find their interests

03:38in second place against those of the reactionary forces, which will always be attached to the

03:43status quo? Y Llywydd, can I thank Mark Drakeford for his—