Party of Wales Neath and Swansea East For Fairness. For Ambition. For You.

Plaid Cymru Senedd Candidate for Neath Sioned Williams has met with Colleges Wales’ Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Dr Rachel Bowen to discuss ideas about what the next Welsh Government need to improve and develop the post-16 education sector.

Dr Bowen requested the meeting to present Colleges Wales’ vision for transforming the provision of learning in Wales and to hear Sioned Williams’ views on what issues need to be addressed in Further Education, especially as we face the challenges created by the Covid pandemic for our young people.

The discussions focused on the importance of ensuring better partnership working by agreeing a clearer vision for the entire sector and the critical importance of digital inclusion, which has been foregrounded so clearly by the Covid crisis.

Sioned Williams said:

“Further Education colleges are a crucial component indeveloping and expanding key skills and creating a more prosperous Wales and more valued workforce, and Plaid Cymru agrees that the sector needs better attention and urgent reform.

“Many of the issues which have long needed addressing to better support post-16 learners have now been given new urgency by the short and long term effects of the pandemic on our economy and society.

“I have seen for myself how Neath College plays a key role in the local economy and society, and how enabling more young people to access broader learning options could boost the resilience of our workforce to face the challenges of the future.”