During Spokesperson’s Questions to Labour’s Cabinet Secretary for Education, the Welsh Conservatives accused the Labour Welsh Government of putting ideology before evidence in the face of Wales’ growing reading crisis.
Recent reports have revealed that evidence-backed methods, such as systematic phonics, are being dismissed by the Welsh Government’s own literacy panel, with concerns that expert voices have been sidelined and civil servants are drafting their own positions instead of following the advice of specialists.
Commenting following Spokesperson’s Questions, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Natasha Asghar MS, said:
“The evidence is crystal clear, systematic phonics works when teaching pupils to read. Yet Labour continues to put ideology before evidence, ignoring decades of proven research in favour of discredited methods and ideology over evidence.
“Evidence-backed approaches are being dismissed, experts are being silenced, and civil servants are overriding professional advice. This is not how you tackle a literacy crisis; it’s how you deepen one.
“It’s high time the Labour Government listened to the Welsh Conservatives, admitted their mistake and followed clear, evidence-based methods such as systematic synthetic phonics before it’s too late and our children continue to pay the price.”
