Thank you for contacting me about children’s literacy rates in Wales.
The Welsh Government claim that improving the literacy of school pupils has been one of their priorities since 2009 Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) resulted provided the-then Minister for Education with a “wake-up call to a complacent system”. 15 years later, the people of Wales are still waiting for the Welsh Labour Government to address this worrying issue.
In fact, in the almost 20 years that Wales has been participating in PISA tests, they have never scored above, or the same, as the other nations in the United Kingdom.
In Wales, 20% of children in Wales are functionally illiterate at the time they enter secondary school, an absolutely staggering figure.
The problem is clear. In England, the cueing method to teach reading was banned in 2005, due to concerns it could undermine efforts to teach pupils to read, but this has still not happened in Wales.
On October 16th 2024, myself and Welsh Conservatives colleagues held a debate on ‘Welsh Reading Rates’ where we called upon the Welsh Government to bring forward reading test regimes, as seen in other parts of the UK, to drive up reading standards. Disappointingly, the Welsh Government voted against improving the literacy skills of Welsh children.
It is important to note that this issue is not just confined to children, adults in Wales also have poor literacy. In Wales 12% of the Welsh population has not reached Level 1 of basic literacy skills, with over 55’s facing greater than average challenges.
As Welsh Conservatives, we will continue to fight for the children of Wales and strive to improve literacy rates.
Once again, thank you for contacting me about children’s literacy rates.