The WISERD Education Multi Cohort Study (WMCS) team has submitted a recommendation on what it believes should be the Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee’s main priority during the Seventh Senedd. Providing these views in response to the latest consultation will help to inform Senedd Cymru with their strategic planning and forward work programme.
In its response, the WMCS team recommends that the Committee undertakes inquiries into three areas:
- The impact of Generative AI in schools
- Equity and non-discrimination at school
- School absences
This recommendation is drawn from the research and expertise of the WMCS team within the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) at Cardiff University. The WMCS is an annual longitudinal study designed to chart the progress of children and young people growing up in Wales. The study follows cohorts from schools across Wales and asks questions about their experiences of school as well as their perspectives on current issues.
Dr Rhian Barrance, WMCS Director, said:
“We have strong evidence in our study on these three areas. School absences, racism and sexual harassment in school are longstanding concerns in Wales, and our results indicate that they remain problematic, despite initiatives to address them.”
She added that the study has shown some worrying trends on Generative AI:
“We urgently need a review into Generative AI in schools. A lot has been said about how Generative AI could close the disadvantage gap, for example, but our research indicates that it has the potential to exacerbate this. There are also particular challenges in the Welsh-medium sector – and we found Welsh-medium pupils were more negative about Generative AI overall.”
Read the full consultation response.