Education changes should be fit for purpose, not fit for Pisa
Commenting on the announcement by Education Minister Leighton Andrews of a review of assessment and the National Curriculum in Wales, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in Wales, said:
“This announcement comes as no surprise to the NASUWT and will be received with mixed emotions by many teachers.
“The direction of travel for the Welsh Government in terms of the future of the National Curriculum in Wales has become increasingly apparent, since the Welsh Government created the ‘PISA crisis’ about the ranking of schools in Wales by inappropriately cherry-picking international data.
“Many teachers agree that the approach within the National Curriculum to level descriptors and attainment targets is overly complicated and now face the potential for this change of direction to impact adversely on their workload and working hours, which are already excessive in many cases.
“Teachers have taught and assessed the National Curriculum as required and it now seems that the academics who devised the National Curriculum Subject Orders got it wrong, but teachers will pay the price.
“The NASUWT will be pressing for a workload impact assessment of the changes.”
Rex Phillips, NASUWT Wales Organiser, said:
“Teachers in Wales could be forgiven for thinking that we are moving towards an education system that is ‘fit for PISA’ rather than fit for purpose.
“The Department for Education and Skills will need to tread very carefully over this review, if the Minister’s aim to streamline and simplify assessment arrangements to assist in raising standards is to ring true.”
ENDS
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