Jeremy Miles MS, Minister for Education and Welsh Language
As the independent regulator for the education workforce, the Education Workforce Council (EWC) is required to contribute to improving standards of teaching and the quality of learning in Wales. They are also required to maintain and improve standards of professional conduct in the workforce.
Both the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and the Interim Youth Work Board have made recommendations about strengthening the legislation for registration with the EWC.
I am therefore launching a consultation to seek views on amending the registration categories. The proposals support work underway to review and update the current independent schools regulations, and aim to strengthen the regulations for those working in the youth sector and the post-16 sector. This will mean that independent school staff, youth sector staff, and those working in the post-16 sector would also be required to register with the EWC.
The consultation identifies some inconsistencies in the current regulation requirements for those working with our learners across all settings and invites your opinion on how we can address them. Your thoughts on these proposals can help ensure all learners benefit from the additional safeguards of professional regulation. The requirement for our learning and teaching staff to register with EWC will be the same, regardless of where they work.
The consultation (New registration categories for the Education Workforce Council) starts today, 1 March 2022, and will be available for comment until 24 May 2022.