What is the Minister doing to ensure there are enough teaching staff (including learning assistants and others) at schools in Brecon and Radnorshire?
The responsibility for employing teaching staff in Powys rests with the Local Authority. The latest data from the School Workforce Annual Census as at November 2021 shows that there were 2,280 school staff in Powys including 1,115 teachers, 735 teaching assistants and 430 other support staff.
We continue to work with our Initial Teacher Education Partnerships and others to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of qualified teachers registered with the Education Workforce Council to meet the required levels across Wales. The latest official statistics Initial Teacher Education Wales, 2020/21 (gov.wales) show that for 2020/21 there was an increase in recruitment to programmes of Initial Teacher Education of 600 entrants as against 2019/20.