Welsh headteachers speak out against libraries

You were already convinced.

I’d agree it doesn’t need to be a specific room necessarily. But education must be in a sorry state if it’s considered too ambitious (or not enough of a priority) to spend £1m on school libraries in Wales!

Literacy is taught by teachers, not libraries. Pay for adequate teachers and classroom support. Teaching is ideologically driven to value the education of children over and above political posturing. So sorry NAHT weren't willing to let Plaid buy some votes by pretending to care about education.

Oh, the "brave" is 100% a joke

Usually most of us who pass comments lack the courage to write an opinion piece and put our name to it. Myself included. So those that do, well done to them.

Agreed. Plaid (and the Lib Dems) are resorting to gimmicks. It’s a question of priorities. Give me a competent teacher over a few feet of shelving any day. The NAHT is correct.

"NAHT is a well run organisation".... I take it you've haven't seen any of those Estyn reports? They are a damning indictment of the NAHT, and every other teaching body in Wales.

And one more thing. PISA25 is nearly here. Perhaps the NAHT Cymru would be better directing their political energies to coaching schools through this process because these results will be weaponised against Welsh Labour, London Labour, devolution and Wales. Practice, practice, practice.

They have just locked one up forever...makes one recall the morally and politically corrupt sadists from the fifties and the sixties...head teachers !

She didn't say schools don't need books. She just said that there are other things that schools need (like teachers and a building that won't collapse in on the children's heads) and that throwing this money at creating school libraries sounds impressive but ignores the REAL problems schools are dealing with day to day.

Let's see what the whole proposal is in the manifestos. The most important thing in the whole article is that *nothing less* than full resourcing should be seen as good enough for education in Wales. We must avoid such a poverty of ambition, even if it is normalised, as our kids deserve it ALL. I am sure we agree. I.e. There should be no debate as to which is most important - teachers, buildings, libraries, books - it should not even be thinkable that kids would go without ANY of these. Should not be a question. Of course, we are far, far away from that. I want to highlight the absurdity of reaching this position in terms of school funding by writing satire. It would be a joke if it wasn't so serious, and the finger really needs to point at why underfunding has become the frame of reference within which debate about priorities is held.

I can't remember a time when I couldn't read; I could certainly read by my first day at school, so I didn't need a teacher to teach reading to me. The most important thing you can do for a child is to allow them their love of books. I say "allow" because I think all children have a natural curiosity which leads them to books, so it is only necessary to make sure they have a clear road to them. Once they are reading, their education follows. In my opinion libraries are at least as important as teachers, as they provide, amongst other things, a necessary refuge for those children whose family lives are difficult, as mine were. The library was always more of a home to me than the house I lived in. A book is a world into which you can escape; a reality often more real than that which you see around you. A good book, like a good teacher, can , will and should change your life.

Read the research Zarah, libraries - both public and school - are central parts of any vaguely sensible national literacy strategy. A library isn't "lovely"... it's an essential.

If you're opposed to investing in critical economic infrastructure then let's start by removing unprofitable roads.