Responding to the news that proposed changes to the school year have been postponed by the Welsh Government, NASUWT General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach, said:

“The decision of the Welsh Government to not press ahead with proposals to change the school year is to be welcomed.

“These proposals proved not only to be without merit, but were an unhelpful distraction.

“The Welsh Government should now focus its time, energy and resources on supporting the teaching profession, tackling excessive workload demands, and addressing the widespread problem of pupil violence and indiscipline in our schools.”

NASUWT National Official Wales Neil Butler, said:

“The announcement made today is to be welcomed. The Welsh Government have listened to and accepted what the NASUWT has been saying that they have bigger fish to fry when it comes to education.

“We want to see the Government concentrating their efforts on supporting teachers and schools through the reform programme and working to make teaching an attractive profession for good quality graduates.

“The Reform of the School Year was always a distraction that was not wanted by teachers, the wider education profession and also the tourist and agriculture industries.

“We now need to get to work on the real and pressing issues in education in Wales.”