00:00Education is going to be one of the biggest talking points at the upcoming Senate elections.
00:06Things like Welsh language provisions, GCSE and A-level results,
00:10and how prepared young people are for life after school,
00:13are going to be what voters are looking at.
00:15Senate members are discussing how to best prepare kids for the big bad world,
00:19and make sure school curriculums put them in the best position it can.
00:23Minister, what action is the Welsh Government taking to strengthen partnerships
00:26between schools, parents and employers to ensure that the curriculum effectively prepares learners
00:31for future careers, and they know what jobs are actually available in their area.
00:37Thank you very much, Carolyn.
00:38And it is crucial that we continue to build strong and successful relationships
00:43between schools, parents and employers to support learners.
00:48This is key to improving the job prospects of learners
00:52and helping them to understand the values that local employers have,
00:58and obviously also means that businesses can recruit then from within their local area.
01:04One of the things that the Welsh Government and Careers Wales have supported
01:08is an initiative called Education Business Partnership,
01:13and that brings employers and schools together
01:16to provide opportunities for learners and teachers to meet and interact with them.
01:21How schools are reported on by regulators has been a massive issue in the last few years.
01:26League tables have been largely scrapped across Wales,
01:29and the Welsh Conservatives are concerned that it will mean schools are not properly held to account,
01:33and they believe it's having an impact on our young people across the country.
01:37Education outcomes in Wales are significantly lower than its neighbouring countries,
01:41not only within the UK, but across other OECD countries.
01:45Without meaningful reforms, analysis in this paper shows performance may continue to worsen.
01:50One of the insights in the report is that Wales abolished school league tables
01:55and single-word judgments, making immediate consequences for poor performing schools less severe.
02:01So will you commit to looking again at whether you will scrap league tables
02:05and single-word judgments after scrapping of league tables and single-word judgments
02:10as the onward report recommends in order to improve parent choice
02:13and drive up school standards in Wales?
02:16Our reports are based on evidence, and we don't recognise much of the evidence that is in that report,
02:23and I have always been willing to acknowledge where genuine evidence has shown us we need to do things differently.
02:32We are moving in the right direction in Wales.
02:36We saw a good set of A-level results.
02:39We saw some improvements at GCSEs.
02:42Our personalised assessment results were encouraging in literacy as well.
02:49And just in terms of inspection, I was with Estyn yesterday, actually,
02:54and I am very content with our inspection regime in Wales.
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