 |
Wrexham & Clwyd South Liberal DemocratsCampaigning with Bill Brereton for Wrexham and Aled Roberts for North Wales |
Bill Brereton asks “When will the Welsh Assembly Stop Living in Cloud Cuckoo Land?”
March 21, 2011 1:15 PM
I was interested to see that Dr John Ball, an economics lecturer of Swansea University, giving evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee asserted that a key plank of the assembly government's economic strategy was "cloud cuckoo land"
Dr Ball, an economics lecturer of Swansea University, said the skills were not there for inward investors. Something serious, he said, had to be done about education.
He accused the assembly government of prioritising industries in decline.
He said to talk of attracting financial services and research and development jobs was "cloud cuckoo land" because of poor levels of education in Wales.
We need immediate action to avert a serious skills shortage following the report by the Assembly's enterprise and learning committee which highlighted "Science skills falling short in Wales" [1].
Years of underinvestment in schools and universities in Wales are leading to an ever decreasing circle in the numbers of our young people training in physical sciences and engineering. I am concerned that this will lead to a growing skills shortage for our local manufacturing base.
"Both the current recession and the longer aspiration to 'green' our economy point to the need urgently to build our engineering and technology skills base however the continuing underfunding of our schools and universities in Wales is hitting these subject areas at all levels."
"The continuing £800 per student funding shortfall between Welsh and English universities [2] has hit expensive subjects such as Engineering and Physical Sciences, which require sophisticated equipment and well supported laboratories, proportionately harder."
"We already have the situation where it is no longer possible to study for a degree in physics or maths in North Wales."
"This situation will only be made worse by the Assembly's decision to slash Welsh universities teaching budgets across the board to subsidise local students to attend English universities."
"In schools the growing funding gap with England will similarly impact on the ability of schools to fully recourse the teaching of these vital subjects." [3]
"At the other end of the spectrum we are seeing a worrying trend in the rise in the proportion of teachers in the physical sciences and technology who are not qualified in those areas. In Wales only one in 4 physics teachers is qualified in the subject [4], with a similar situation in maths. A massive 60% of computing teachers have no post A-level qualification in the subject [4]."
"This situation will only get worse with less people training in these vital subjects. We need teachers who are able to inspire our children to succeed in these subjects, which are often perceived as difficult."
"The time for talking is over. The Assembly Government needs to urgently reassess the nation's skills base and future needs, based on manufacturing our way out of the deficit and working towards a low carbon economy over the coming decades. We need decisive action and investment to prevent this spiral of decline in subject areas crucial to North Wales' future economic wellbeing."
Notes:
Dr. John Ball as quoted in BBC News 8th March, 2011.
1) "Science skills falling short in Wales. Daily Post 28th January 2011
2) "Latest figures from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) showed Welsh universities losing out by almost £80m a year compared to their English counterparts. The study also revealed that in 2007/8 funding per student was £900 less than in England." Daily Post 15th January 2011.
3) "Political row as schools funding gap with England widens." Daily Post 27th Jan 2011
4) The Independent 4/06/08.
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats