Welsh curriculum revision supported by OECD

The OECD expressed its support for the Welsh’s revision of the national curriculum in a report. There are several aspects which have been criticized by the National Union of teachers that made its way into the new draft. It will be introduced in 2021 and includes ”progression steps” at the ages of 5, 8, 11, 14 and 16 that checks for the development of the pupils. Furthermore, the Education Secretary Kirsty Williams will implement recommendations by the OECD such as launching new professional standards and the founding of a new national academy for leadership.

Especially the quality of the teacher training needs to be improved. The report mentions the hope that the curriculum will “significantly raise the bar” when it comes to which skills Wales can expect from its educators. But the OECD warned the government about implementing additional education policies which can decline the progress by the new approach and suggests sticking to the recent plan.

The PISA ranking revealed that the students in Wales underlie their counterparts in the other states of the UK. By starting with the setting of 150 pilot schools, the new strategy is supposed to solve this deficit.

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Information source: bbc.com