Children are being taught by unqualified staff because of a severe shortage of supply teachers in Wales. Supply is not meeting demand for covering teachers’ absence “leaving schools sometimes forced to employ unqualified staff to provide cover,” a Senedd committee has warned.
In its assessment of the Welsh Government’s attempts to address the issue, the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee concluded that, “despite important steps being taken in recent years, progress is still too slow to the detriment of pupils”.
The committee recently carried out an inquiry to measure progress since a major report by the Auditor General for Wales in 2020 highlighted a number of problems that the Welsh Government needed to tackle within the supply teaching system. Finding adequate cover in rural areas and a lack of Welsh language teachers to teach Welsh and other subjects through the medium of Welsh were major issues highlighted in 2020 and remains a specific problem today.
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A lack of data about teachers’ absences for reasons other than sickness, and details about how schools are using the Welsh Government’s national agency framework to hire supply cover, also make it difficult to monitor how well Welsh Government is performing and if the arrangements represent value for money, the committee found.
Drawbacks were also highlighted with the recruitment and retention incentives for teachers and the committee “is frustrated” that The National Supply Pool for Wales – an online booking platform for schools to find teachers - has not yet been introduced nationwide.
Mark Isherwood MS, chair of the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, said: “It is said that ‘a good teacher can change everything’, but when that teacher is unavoidably absent the quality of the teaching cover really matters.
“We must provide the best possible provision covering teaching absences in the classroom so that children’s education does not suffer unduly. It is essential that we have an adequate supply of adequately paid, qualified and motivated supply teachers, across all ages and subjects, in both Welsh and English.
“Despite important steps being taken by the Welsh Government in recent years, the committee is concerned that progress is too slow and that where action is being taken, the lack of monitoring means the Welsh Government cannot be sure if its approach is having the desired impact. Importantly, the committee would like to see the long discussed ‘national supply pool’ made a reality nationwide and all supply teachers having access to the enhanced pay, pension and training provision of their colleagues.”
Responding to the report a Welsh government spokesperson said: “We welcome the committee’s findings and are working towards developing a sustainable supply teaching model. We are working closely with local authorities and unions to discuss the position on the national supply pool and consider options for the next steps.”
Claire Armistead, director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, said: “Failure to get a grip on the recruitment and retention crisis has led to an increase in demand for supply staff that is completely unsustainable. While we would support a review of incentives to aid recruitment of students into initial teacher education, boosting starting salaries is likely to have a much greater impact, as would addressing the workload crisis our profession continues to face. Any recruitment and retention strategy must be based around improving teacher pay and conditions, and ensuring this is affordable for all schools.
“We support calls for the Welsh Government to respond to the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body review on supply teachers’ pay and conditions and there should be consideration given to including supply teachers under the provisions of the School teachers’ pay and conditions (Wales) document 2023. This would protect supply teachers’ terms and conditions as well as helping school leaders to manage their budgets.”
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