In Wales, 20% of children in Wales are functionally illiterate at the time they enter secondary school, an absolutely staggering figure. This is all whilst PISA after PISA result have Wales languishing at the bottom of UK performance tables.
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.
In the Senedd today, the Welsh Conservatives brought forward a Senedd motion calling on the Welsh Government to immediately issue guidance to ensure and advocate that the phonics method of teaching reading is used, and bring forward testing regimes to drive up reading standards.
Commenting following the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Education, Tom Giffard MS, said:
“It is a national scandal in Wales that 20% of children are leaving primary school functionally illiterate.
“Labour have shown stubbornness with their lack of clarity on the cue method of teaching, a method that has been holding thousands of pupils back at such an important stage in their education. Rather than admit they have gotten it wrong Labour would prefer to see our pupils leaving primary school functionally illiterate.
“Today, The Welsh Conservatives voted to adopt the system of synthetic phonics in our schools. Unfortunately, Labour voted to continue putting ideology over evidence.”
The motion debated today read as follows:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Notes the 2022 PISA results that found that reading scores in Wales were the worst in the United Kingdom, and well below the OECD average.
2. Regrets that 20 per cent of children in Wales are functionally illiterate at the time they enter secondary school.
3. Recognises that the system of cueing to teach reading was banned in England in 2005, over concerns it could undermine efforts to teach pupils to read, but this has still not happened in Wales.
4. Calls on the Welsh Government to:
a) immediately issue guidance to ensure and advocate that schools and teachers use the phonics method of teaching reading to improve performance; and
b) urgently bring forward reading testing regimes, as seen in other parts of the United Kingdom, to drive up reading standards.
