Welsh schools forced to employ unqualified staff to provide cover
A Senedd Committee has found the availability of supply teachers is struggling to keep up with demand
The availability of supply teachers is struggling to keep up with demand, a Senedd Committee has heard, with schools sometimes forced to employ unqualified staff to provide cover.
In its assessment of the Welsh Government’s attempts to address the issue, the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee found that,
"...despite important steps being taken in recent years, progress is still too slow to the detriment of pupils. "
The Committee carried out an inquiry to measure progress since a major report by the Auditor General for Wales in 2020 highlighted a number of problems that Welsh Government needed to tackle within the supply teaching system.
Finding adequate cover in rural areas and a lack of Welsh language teachers to teach Welsh and other subjects through the medium of Welsh were major issues highlighted in 2020 and remains a specific problem.
Chair of the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, Mark Isherwood MS, says:
“It is said that ‘a good teacher can change everything’, but when that teacher is unavoidably absent the quality of the teaching cover really matters. We must provide the best possible provision covering teaching absences in the classroom so that children’s education does not suffer unduly.
“It is essential that we have an adequate supply of adequately paid, qualified and motivated supply teachers, across all ages and subjects, in both Welsh and English.
“Despite important steps being taken by the Welsh Government in recent years, the Committee is concerned that progress is too slow and that where action is being taken, the lack of monitoring means the Welsh Government cannot be sure if its approach is having the desired impact.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We welcome the committee’s findings and are working towards developing a sustainable supply teaching model.
"We are working closely with local authorities and unions to discuss the position on the national supply pool and consider options for the next steps.”