Statement on consultation process for the 'Learning Country: Learning Pathway 14-19' document

I would like to report on the consultation process for the 'Learning Country: Learning Pathway 14-19' document, and to touch on the issues that have been raised by stakeholders.  

This Assembly - in plenary and committee - has already debated both the development of the 14-19 project and the proposals to emerge from it.  

The formal consultation period ended on 7 February.  This followed the huge amount of pre-consultation carried out during May to September 2002.  We were determined that this open approach should not stop when the document was published.  So we have continued to debate the proposals - the thinking behind them and the issues surrounding them - with as many stakeholders as possible, face-to-face, on their own ground.  Informal “coffee mornings” were arranged across the country. Hundreds of people from many sectors came along and talked to us.  They talked to each other.  Of course they had concerns.  The proposals are far reaching.  But what was clear, and so encouraging too, was the groundswell of support for the principles underlying the proposals - equality of opportunity and social inclusion, where the structure will secure an entitlement for all our young people a range of opportunities and experiences to help them develop the wide range of skills they need.  And we’ve continued to listen to young people. Their input has been thoughtful and challenging and will continue to shape our thinking.      

The responses to the formal consultation, together with the results of all our local discussions, are being analysed - a report will be made available to this Assembly and published on the internet by the end of February.  There are, however, very clear messages coming through, and I’d like to share some of these with you today.  There is:

• overall acceptance that the emphasis must be on learners first and that structures and sub-systems must change to meet the needs of learners.  
  
• recognition that these proposals herald radical change in the way our young people will plan and experience their learning - together with a cautious excitement about being involved in developing this.  
  
• support for the proposed balance between knowledge, practical application and essential skill development support for looking at young people in the round - taking into account all aspects of their lives.
  
• recognition of the need to engage in change for all young people at all levels of ability - that these proposals are for the brightest and best as well as those who need significant extra support.
  
• widespread desire - particularly strong from young people themselves - for the systems of support for young people to be as important as the curriculum choices they make.  We make a distinction in the proposals between support for learning pathway development and more general, intermittent personal support at times of need - when a young person is being bullied, or facing a family crisis, or has any other personal problem that affects their learning and living.  

We have enough evidence of need to develop a model of entitlement for individuals with regard to their learning pathways, to identify the skill set needed to provide this entitlement, and then to identify those able to carry out these roles.  There’s much existing good practice we can tap into.  But we cannot ignore the clear need for support.

Young people have also been clear about the choices they would like to see available.  They want a much wider range of vocational options.    

There is widespread support for the Welsh Baccalaureate as the overarching award.  The pilot programmes starting in September 2003 will help us ensure that by the time it is rolled out it will be an exact fit for the learning routes we develop.

We have to ensure that we have the capacity to deliver these radical changes.  We know it will cost more - and we plan to do some immediate work on modelling the proposals to find out how much more.  And we know that there will be training needs, and a need for a number of organisation to develop stronger structures and more people.

We know the significance to individuals and communities of a level 2/intermediate qualification.  Those without are more likely to have intermittent short-term employment, with long periods of unemployment, and earn significantly less.  We know that in areas where there are a large number of people without at least an intermediate qualification, there is a lower GDP, and poorer health.  And we also know that a large percentage of young offenders have difficulties with basic skills. These are powerful arguments and have found a great deal of support throughout Wales.

We've also identified significant common strands between the Foundation Stage proposals 3 – 7 and the philosophy for the 14-19 phase.  The approaches to learning, choice and flexibility in the curriculum, assessment and recording, support and guidance, organisation and implementation and quality assurance have much in common and will form a strong backbone for development of distinctive made in Wales approaches to learning for all age groups.

We’ve suggested that local 14-19 networks should be the vehicle for planning to deliver wider and more flexible provision for 14 onwards.  Many areas of Wales are already beginning to have just such a function.  So I'm enormously encouraged to hear some areas are already working towards the implementation of these proposals.  The Cardiff Collegium has pioneered some of these ideas, and Carmarthenshire has ambitious plans for 14-19 networks to extend the range of vocational and other options for their young people, closely linked with the CCET and Young People’s Partnership, as well as developing innovative strategies for e-learning.  

We intend to discuss the Action Plan at plenary on 2 April.  We know there is still much work to do.  But what’s so encouraging from the responses so far is the willingness of people in all sectors to work in partnership with us to continue to develop the detail.  

I believe the 14-19 project been an example of real partnership in developing policy.