NASUWT Cymru launched its own election manifesto today, demanding political parties make education a clear focus of their plans for Wales.

The education union warned politicians that failing to properly fund schools would mean failing to “fund the country’s future.”

NASUWT called on the future political leaders of Wales to offer teachers better pay and conditions, provide safe and healthy workplaces and tackle discrimination.

It also asked the next political party elected to the Senedd on May 7 to “bring coherence” to the national education system while pointing to past failures, namely in addressing the crisis in Additional Learning Needs, excessive workloads for staff, and poor teacher wellbeing.

NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack said the upcoming elections “will not only decide where power sits in the Senedd – it will decide the trajectory of education in Wales.”

He said: “A better deal for teachers is essential to improve recruitment and retention, reduce teachers’ workloads and levels of stress, and position teachers to best meet the needs of all of their pupils.

“Prioritising education in Wales starts with prioritising pay and working conditions for teachers, who are the very foundations our schools are built upon.

“The question is not whether the next government can afford a world-class education system in Wales; it is why they think teachers and pupils should put up with anything less than world-class.

“Education is a fundamental pillar of democracy, and failure to fund it is a failure to fund the country’s future.”

NASUWT national official Neil Butler said Wales faces “a unique set of challenges” when it comes to education, explaining that poverty levels are higher in Wales than the rest of Britain.

Mr Butler said: “Disjointed curriculum changes and qualifications reform have played havoc with teachers’ workloads and pupils’ education. Widespread redundancies are taking place while there are shortages of teachers in some subject areas.

“There is simply no plan for the whole of Wales. We need a new government with the courage to bring transformational improvements to education while prioritising improved conditions for teachers. Education should never be about minimising services to cut costs.”

He said the next elected government “must acknowledge that schools are workplaces and that funding cuts have lasting repercussions, not only for teachers’ working conditions, but the long-term supply of teachers in Wales.”