Thousands of children across Wales are unable to read

MS for North Wales

A recent investigation by ITV Wales News into the Welsh education system found that thousands and thousands of children across Wales are unable to read.

The reason? It’s how reading is taught. The Welsh Government encourage the use of so-called “cueing”, which has a less rigorous approach and basically assumes that reading comes naturally to children, no matter what.

By contrast, in England, phonics are used to teach reading. That method breaks down words for children, helping them hear, identify and use different sounds in various words.

Estyn, who are responsible for carrying out school inspections in Wales, actively praise the use of cueing in their school inspection reports. Welsh Government push the use of cueing alongside phonics, which just confuses things for children.

It’s remarkable that such a thing is happening in Wales. Everyone knows that the method of teaching doesn’t work, but children across Wales are being forced to learn in that way.

It’s even more staggering because, in 2012, Estyn stated that a fifth of children were starting secondary school “functionally illiterate”. That was more than a decade ago, and given concerns over teaching methods in the last few years, that could have got even worse.

When we look at the PISA tests, which are a global ranking of education systems, Welsh reading scores have plunged and are now at their lowest level.

The Welsh score is well behind other parts of the United Kingdom. England was ranked 13th in the world for reading, and in a separate international study known as PIRLS, English children were ranked fourth out of 43 comparable countries.

That’s thanks to a meticulous approach to teaching, which includes phonics. It’s so important that our children have the best start to life and that includes learning the basis of reading, writing, maths and science to give them a foundation for success.

If those children and young people don’t have those basic abilities, then they will be hamstrung for the rest of their life. That as a knock-on effect on the economy, and makes them more likely to have a variety of other issues.

It’s also not fair on teachers, who are being pushed into teaching methods that don’t work and are frankly counterproductive. There needs to be a change, and urgently.

As ever, if you have any queries or issues you’d like to raise with me, then you can get in touch by emailing sam.rowlands@senedd.wales