Welsh Conservatives form literacy panel to combat 'reading crisis'
Sir Nick Gibb, who served as Minister of State for Schools, is part of the literacy panel created by Welsh Conservative, Natasha Asghar
A group of education 'experts' have been brought together by Welsh Conservative, Natasha Asghar MS, with the aim of 'devising solutions to combat illiteracy in Wales'.
Asghar, the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, is launching her Alternative Literacy Panel after a Welsh Conservative investigation found cueing being pushed in Welsh schools.
Cueing, which England stopped using more than two decades ago, sees children taught to read by guessing words from pictures or the context of a sentence.
The Welsh Conservatives claim there is no evidence it is effective and following England’s decision to move away from cueing in 2005, reading rates have increased.
Welsh Conservatives: "20% of children leave primary school illiterate"
The Welsh Conservatives continue saying 20% of children leave primary school illiterate causing 'a reading crisis' across Wales.
However, the Welsh Government dismisses this figure as 'inaccurate', saying the data has been taken from an Estyn report from 13 years ago.
The term 'illiterate', is also not a term recognised or collected as a data item by the Welsh Government, nor it is used by Estyn in their school inspection reports.
Sir Nick Gibb, who served as Minister of State for Schools in the UK Government from 2010 – 2012, 2014 – 2021 and 2022 – 2023, is one of the experts sitting on the Alternative Literacy Panel.
Commenting, Sir Nick Gibb, former UK Government Minister of State for Schools, said:
“The Welsh Government should be listening to Natasha Asghar’s Alternative Literacy Panel in advocating systematic synthetic phonics in the teaching of reading in Welsh schools.
“As the UK Schools Minister for 10 years, we legislated to require systematic synthetic phonics in schools in England, and we introduced the Phonics Screening Check to be sure that children had been taught to decode words and to ensure no child slipped through the net with their reading difficulties unidentified.
“As a consequence of our reforms, England is now fourth in the world in the reading ability of our 9- and 10-year-olds according to the PIRLS international survey.”
Natasha Asghar: "Low literacy can seriously hamper an individual’s future learning"
Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Natasha Asghar MS, added:
“I am incredibly grateful to all of the experts who have joined my Alternative Literacy Panel and provided robust solutions to the reading crisis currently facing Wales.
“Low literacy can seriously hamper an individual’s future learning and job prospects, hit their confidence, and we know illiteracy is significantly correlated with crime.
“I am determined to improve outcomes for our young people and this Alternative Literacy Panel is a first important step in bringing about meaningful change.”
In response, The Welsh Government says:
“Phonics is central to teaching reading and we expect to see it in all schools.
"The Curriculum for Wales guidance is clear that the systematic and consistent teaching of phonics is fundamental to teaching reading, alongside vocabulary building and comprehension.
“Earlier this year, we set out a range of extra support for schools including further support for literacy and the teaching of early reading, following the commission of a Literacy Expert Panel.
"All literacy support is based upon the latest evidence and co-constructed with experts and practitioners. We are already seeing improvements in levels of attainment.”