A group of education experts have been brought together by Natasha Asghar MS with the overarching aim of devising robust solutions to combat illiteracy in Wales.
Natasha, who serves as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, launched her Alternative Literacy Panel after an investigation found cueing, a widely discredited teaching method, was still being pushed in Welsh schools.
Cueing, which England stopped using more than two decades ago, sees children taught to read by guessing words from pictures or the context of a sentence.
There is no evidence it is effective and following England’s decision to move away from cueing in 2005, reading rates have increased.
Whereas in Wales, 20% of children leave primary school illiterate with the country facing a reading crisis with dropping literacy standards.
Natasha, who represents South Wales East in the Senedd, has met with her expert panel several times over the last few months with the group providing a set of key takeaway points and recommendations.
The group has proposed a series of improvements and strategic direction, which will help shape the Welsh Conservative manifesto for next year’s Senedd election.
Sir Nick Gibb, who served as Minister of State for Schools in the UK Government from 2010 – 2012, 2014 – 2021 and 2022 – 2023, is one of the experts sitting on the Alternative Literacy Panel.
Commenting, Sir Nick Gibb, former UK Government Minister of State for Schools, said:
“The Welsh Government should be listening to Natasha Asghar’s Alternative Literacy Panel in advocating systematic synthetic phonics in the teaching of reading in Welsh schools.
“As the UK Schools Minister for 10 years, we legislated to require systematic synthetic phonics in schools in England, and we introduced the Phonics Screening Check to be sure that children had been taught to decode words and to ensure no child slipped through the net with their reading difficulties unidentified.
“As a consequence of our reforms, England is now fourth in the world in the reading ability of our 9- and 10-year-olds according to the PIRLS international survey.”
Also commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education Natasha Asghar MS added:
“I am incredibly grateful to all of the experts who have joined my Alternative Literacy Panel and provided robust solutions to the reading crisis currently facing Wales.
“Low literacy can seriously hamper an individual’s future learning and job prospects, hit their confidence, and we know illiteracy is significantly correlated with crime.
“I am determined to improve outcomes for our young people and this Alternative Literacy Panel is a first important step in bringing about meaningful change.”
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