Head criticises ‘deplorable’ school buildings in Wales

A head teacher has criticised the ‘deplorable’ state of school buildings in Wales, warning a generation of buildings suffer from issues such as leaking roofs, poor windows and cold classrooms.

Jon Wilson, a head teacher of Duffryn High School, Newport, told the BBC that he has asked for the buildings at his school to be revamped for the past 13 years with no action taken, warning that a ‘whole generation of schools’ across Wales are in a similar situation.

The Welsh government said it has invested £1.4 billion across Wales to improve buildings, but Wilson claims that this investment, under the 21st Century schools programme, ‘hasn’t worked’.

He said: "Like many things in Wales, [21st Century Schools programme] good in concept, relatively poor in execution; just not enough of it going on to produce the facilities that our children deserve.

"I've been to see some fabulous new schools around Wales, but there's all too few of them. I think the reality is closer to where we are with our deplorable buildings, than to the very, very small number of new schools."

Dr Philip Dixon of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) claims that double the £1.4 billion already invested is needed to improve the state of Welsh school buildings.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales' Good Morning Wales programme, Dixon said that in the early years of devolution the Welsh government had ‘chronically under spent’ and that some schools were now in such as bad state they would need to be pulled down and rebuilt.