Disappointment about WJEC non-Welsh-speaking appointment

10 January 2018

Disappointment about WJEC non-Welsh-speaking appointment

In response to the WJEC's announcement today that it had appointed a new Chief Executive, Elaine Edwards, UCAC General Secretary said "Whilst acknowledging the relevance of much of Roderic Gillespie's experience, UCAC restates its disappointment that the ability to communicate in Welsh was not a requirement for this appointment.

"We now face a situation where the Chief Executive of one of the most important organisations that has direct contact with schools and colleges in Wales is unable to communicate with them in Welsh. This is also likely to affect the internal linguistic dynamics of the organisation, as well as the relationship with other external partners.

"Without any apparent experience of the education system in Wales, one wonders about his level of awareness in relation to bilingualism in Wales and our bilingual education and qualifications system."