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WISERD Director contributes to Western Mail article on Welsh education system
Professor Gareth Rees has offered his expertise to an article this week (March 12th, p.4) about the next Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) results in November.
The article leads on Education Minster Leighton Andrews’ comments that he doesn’t expect Wales to show ‘real improvement’ in the school rankings because the Welsh Government’s new education reforms haven’t had enough time to bed in.
Professor Rees commented that the Pisa system makes it difficult to rank schools in a meaningful way in order to construct robust league tables. However, Professor Rees added that he did predict Pisa scores for Wales to increase over the coming years given the intense focus on the assessments and the level of support that is being offered to schools and teachers.
Click here to read the online version of the full article.
WISERD Welcomes High-Profile Politician to Launch Annual Conference
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, the former Presiding Officer of the National Assembly, will make a major speech to open an important social science conference in Bangor next year.
The third annual Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods’ (WISERD) conference will bring together researchers, politicians and third sector agencies from Wales and beyond to discuss ‘Devolution, Place and Change’.
Lord Elis-Thomas’ speech ‘Sut mae deddfu dros gynaliadwyedd?’(How to legislate for sustainability) will be delivered in Welsh (with simultaneous translation) on the first morning of the two-day conference.
WISERD Director, Professor Gareth Rees, said:”We are delighted to welcome such a well respected figure to the WISERD conference next year. Dafydd Elis-Thomas is one of the major figures in contemporary Welsh politics. I’m sure that his contribution will be well-informed and thought-provoking.
“He will provide an excellent beginning to what is becoming Wales’ most important conference for people concerned about social and economic issues in Wales today.”
Dafydd Elis-Thomas is currently the Assembly Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd and was Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales since its first opening in 1999 until 2011. He is also President of Bangor University where he was formerly a student and lecturer.
His political interests are focused on the development of devolution in Wales, and the status of Wales in Europe. Recently he was appointed as Chair of the Assembly’s Environment and Sustainability Committee and Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for Environment and Energy.
Aside from his work in politics, Dafydd Elis-Thomas has also served on the Welsh Language Board, the British Film Institute and the Arts Council of Wales, as well as working in the private sector as a director of an environmental surveying company.
Further information
The third annual WISERD Conference entitled ‘Devolution, Place and Change’ takes place at Bangor University on March 28th and 29th 2012. To book a place at the conference please download a booking form here. Early bird rates are available until Tuesday 17th January 2012.
