Responding to Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynn Neagle’s announcement of measures to support the rollout of the new Curriculum for Wales, Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said:

“From day one of the new Curriculum for Wales, NASUWT has drawn attention to the many challenges it poses to teachers and learners. While the intention is that the curriculum be constructed by practitioners in schools, teachers are not being given the time and space to do this work.

“The Cabinet Secretary for Education is the first to admit that there is a problem with the new Curriculum. Teachers and pupils deserve an education system that is resourced to ensure success.”

Neil Butler, National Official for Wales, said:

“Our members in Wales remain concerned about the chaotic rollout of the new Curriculum. They are already battling increasing class sizes and a pupil behaviour crisis, neither of which the Welsh Government is choosing to address head-on.

“The Cabinet Secretary for Education’s call for consistency is an ambitious ask,  especially considering that the Curriculum was designed to be created and differentiated by individual schools. This approach encourages inconsistency. Moreover, Local Management of Schools ensures that schools act as individual entities, so it is very difficult to get them to collaborate.

“Consistency will have to be imposed by a Welsh Government that understands what the problems are and is determined to fix them. Where the Curriculum is concerned, there has been a lot of fiddling whilst Rome burns. Let’s hope that the new Cabinet Secretary for Education is ready to get stuck in and put the fire out.”