Welsh medium schools ‘bend rules’ bringing in English-only speaking teachers to cover staff shortages

Dale Spridgeon, local democracy reporter

Desperate Welsh-medium schools are having to bring in teachers who only speak English in order to plug staffing gaps, a councillor has said.

Cllr Dewi Owen told a Cyngor Gwynedd meeting that recruitment issues meant some schools were having to “bend the rules” in order to plug recruitment gaps.

The Independent Aberdyfi councillor and Ysgol Tywyn Uwchwradd governor made the claim during a Cyngor Gwynedd education and economy scrutiny committee, last Thursday [December 11].

Describing school recruitment issues, Cllr Owen said: “There are a lot of challenges to recruit teachers in the county’s secondary schools.

Having enough teachers in our schools is a huge problem.

“I am talking here as someone from South Meirionnydd, it is a challenge, to get teachers into our secondary schools.

“Some teachers are really worried when they are off ill, there can be a huge problem finding someone to fill the gap.

“Sometimes, we have had to bend the rules and bring in somebody who is only English speaking.

“I know it is contrary to Cyngor Gwynedd’s policy – but what else can you do?

“If we have someone living locally and they have the resources to teach, maybe they’ve been retired but have been teachers in secondary schools before.

“As governors, we know these people, and the heads can ask them. It happens not only in Tywyn but other schools.”

The council’s head of education Gwern ap Rhisiart agreed that teaching staff recruitment and retention was “a real problem”.

He said: “I don’t think we can explain, in reality, the impact that it has on learning and teaching standards across this county, whether it is in a rural communities like Meirionnydd, or an urban area such as Arfon.

“We can’t find teachers who want to come and teach in schools, or who can cope with the work pressures they are under within the current education system.

“It is not something that is just true of Gwynedd, staff recruitment and retaining staff in schools is a national challenge, and beyond Wales.

“In Gwynedd there are some circumstances where teachers are placed, especially, in some sectors such as the secondary sector where maybe they have a speciality, such as maths but have to teach a second or third subject.

“It’s not always attractive to professionals.

“They think ‘I went to college to be a maths teacher, I don’t necessarily want to teach PE or technology as well’.”

‘Real concern’

He said there was also a “real concern” about leadership, and where the next generation of leaders would come from in schools. He also described the “difficulty” in finding senior staff, such as deputy heads, heads, and subject leaders.

“We find it very difficult to recruit heads of departments, they are very scarce people,” he said.

“When they leave, that lack of resilience in the system often becomes apparent very quickly.

“If a good head of department leaves, standards can drop. It’s something we have explained in our school’s strategy.

“In some areas such as Meirionnydd, I know some schools have been forced into situations to appoint staff who are not necessarily Welsh speakers.

“But they are committed to follow enrichment courses to promote use of the language.

“But it does worry me, moving forward, I know it is something that worries a lot of you.

“But there are plans to support the language and teachers and to promote greater use of the Welsh language.”