UCAC Conference tackles Welsh education’s burning issues

04 April 2019

UCAC Conference tackles Welsh education’s burning issues

UCAC, one of Wales’s main teachers’ unions, is to hold its annual conference in Llandrindod this weekend (5-6 April).

Teachers from all over Wales will debate over 30 motions on the most burning issues in Welsh education including:

  • school funding
  • transparency of the regional consortia
  • a fixed school calendar
  • recruitment and retention of headteachers
  • immersion techniques and funding of Welsh Languages Centres
  • health and wellbeing of pupils and school staff

In amongst the debates, there will be several guest speakers, including:

  • Kirsty Williams AM, theEducation Minister, Welsh Government
  • Guto Aaron, Educational Technology consultant and trainer, Google for Education Certified Innovator and Trainer, Director @Twt360
  • Tracey Jones, Chrysalis, who helps teachers and educators to deal with daily pressures by building personal resilience and providing them with coping strategies
Dilwyn Roberts-Young, UCAC’s General Secretary said “This is members’ opportunity to set out the agenda for the year ahead - to raise concerns, to demand improvements and to offer ideas for the education system that we’d like to see in Wales.

“It’s clear that school funding and extreme workload are very high on the list of issues that are causing serious concern to teachers and school leaders at the moment. We’ve reached the point where schools are receiving insufficient funds to provide basic services. There are huge questions to be asked about how budgets are disbursed, and about the incredibly dense funding fog that makes any realistic assessment of value for money virtually impossible.

“Now that the power over teachers’ pay and conditions has been devolved to Wales, we expect to see immediate, constructive steps to tackle the extreme workloads that teachers are struggling with, with all the consequent effects on their health and wellbeing.

“It’s crucial that these messages reach the people who run our education system but who don’t experience its day-to-day reality.”

ENDS

Notes

  • UCAC is Wales’s own education union. It represents teachers, headteachers and lecturers in all education sectors across Wales
  • The Conference will take place at the Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod on 5-6 April 2019
  • There will be a live Twitter feed at @AthrawonCymru using the hashtag #cynhadleddUCAC
  • Please get in touch if you would like a copy of the timetable, motions, or if you would like to make any specific arrangements
  • The proceedings will take place in Welsh; simultaneous translation can be provided by prior arrangement.

For further information please contact:

  • Rebecca Williams: 07787 572180 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.