New Welsh school curriculum law approved by Senedd

Plans to overhaul how children are taught in schools in Wales will become law after a vote in the Senedd.

It follows a consultation in 2019 on the first complete reform of the system in more than 30 years.

However, there was a row between the education minister and Plaid Cymru over whether or not studying Welsh history is compulsory in the curriculum.

The changes, coming in from 2022, do not set out detailed plans for exactly what schools should be teaching.

In secondary schools subjects will be incorporated into six "areas of learning and experience".

The legislation was passed with 32 Senedd members backing it, 18 voting against and one abstention.

Plaid Cymru voted against the bill. Education spokeswoman Sian Gwenllian said that without mandatory Welsh history "on the face of the bill, there is no guarantee that it will be taught to every pupil in Wales, and that is something we as a party cannot accept".

"The new curriculum is focused on local history, so pupils in different parts of Wales won't learn the same things," she said before the debate.

"The threat in this is that key aspects of Welsh history that have long been disregarded, including that of Black people and People of Colour, women, the working class, LGBT+ people, etc. won't be a consistent element of the learning experience of Welsh pupils."

Answering the criticism in the Senedd chamber, Education Minister Kirsty Williams said: "Welsh history and the story of Wales will be a compulsory part of this curriculum, it is included in the statutory guidance."

"There will be no way a school cannot teach the history of Wales.

"Indeed, every single area of learning and experience is required to have a golden thread of celebration of Welsh identity in all its diversity in every area and that is underpinned in the legislation before us."

Schools will be required to teach lifesaving skills and first aid under the curriculum, following a change of policy by the Welsh Government announced last week.