At today’s First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) in the Senedd, Darren Millar MS, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, addressed the concerning rise in violence within Welsh schools. Referring to the recent conviction of a teenage schoolgirl for a stabbing attack at Ysgol Dyffryn Ammanford, Mr. Millar highlighted the alarming rise in school violence across Wales.
He cited reports of school lockdowns, weapons being brought into schools, teacher assaults on the rise and changes made by the Welsh Government to exclusion reporting guidelines, which no longer classify possession of a weapon as a reportable reason for exclusion.
Additionally, the teacher recruitment crisis was raised by Mr. Millar, who outlined that the increasing violence in our schools is putting people off the teaching profession, with the number of teachers registered with the General Teaching Council falling by more than 20% and last year saw the biggest exodus from the profession in over a decade.
Commenting after the exchange in the Senedd, Welsh Conservatives Leader, Darren Millar MS said:
“The rise in violence in our schools is deeply disturbing, no teacher or pupil should feel unsafe at school, yet with reports of weapons being brought into classrooms and teachers facing abuse and assault on the rise, it is clear more must be done to tackle this issue.
“Rather than tightening policies to protect teachers and students, the Welsh Labour Government has weakened exclusion guidance, sending the wrong message to those who carry weapons into schools. There must be a hard and fast rule that taking a weapon to school should always result in an exclusion, full stop.
“Labour’s failure to address the growing teacher recruitment and retention crisis is compounding the problem. Under Labour’s watch, school violence is up, teacher numbers are down, and educational outcomes are suffering. It’s time for the Welsh Government to take responsibility and deliver the safe, high-performing schools our children and teachers deserve.”
