Look closer (From Penarth Times)

Look closer

PERHAPS Alwyn Evans (Your Letters, May 16) should take a closer look at what the Welsh Baccalaureate proposals actually entail before making misleading claims about the level of assessment it will mean - the whole point about a pilot is to see which methods of assessment work best for pupils and teachers - a Welsh Bacc does not necessarily mean more exams.

As I stated previously, I had a number of concerns about the IWA proposal for a Welsh Bacc, whereas the model which is about to be piloted is a qualification which encompasses all types of existing qualifications - both academic and vocational, and is as applicable for pupils in Penarth as it is in Merthyr or Colwyn Bay. If the IWA proposals were so much better, why did they not tender to run a pilot?

Of course Mr Evans neglects to mention that it was the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government who abolished testing for 7-year-olds, and league tables, and has gone a long way to reducing some of the bureaucracy that teachers face, although there is still some work to be done in that direction.

Perhaps Mr Evans should also be a bit more honest about his political affiliations before starting letter writing campaigns where he refers to Labour as 'crypto-Tories'. We all know that it is Plaid Cymru who are propping up the Tory administration on the Vale of Glamorgan council.

Lorraine Barrett AM National Assembly