A fund to cut class sizes in Welsh schools is failing, according to the Welsh Conservatives, who are calling for the money redirected to ease funding pressures in frontline education.
The calls come as it emerged that just 80 new teachers had been recruited as a result of £1.3 million investment.
The Welsh Government announced the £36m fund in January 2017, promising that the fund would make “a real difference” to class sizes.
The funding – over four years – is made up of £16 million to recruit teachers, and £20 million to build new classrooms.
According to the latest Estyn Report, the number of primary schools in Wales has fallen since 2011, with the number of pupils up over the same period.
Commenting, Shadow Education Secretary, Darren Millar, said:
“When so many schools are laying off staff and struggling to balance the books, you have to question whether this is the right approach.
“Smaller class sizes require extra classrooms, which in turn demands more teachers – and yet Welsh education is in the midst of a deepening teacher recruitment crisis.
“Despite the Cabinet Secretary’s soaring rhetoric, it’s becoming clear that this fund isn’t going to make any meaningful impression on class sizes.
“It would be better to distribute the money to local education authorities to enable them to ease the funding pressures in our schools, help close the pupil funding gap between England and Wales, and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.”