Wales teachers: Extra cash offered to attract BAME staff

About 1.3% of teachers in Wales identify as being from an ethnic minority in Wales compared to 12% of pupils

Cash incentives are to be offered to help recruit more black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) teachers in Wales.

About 1.3% of teachers identify as being from an ethnic minority in Wales.

That compares to 12% of pupils, according to new education workforce stats.

Now the Welsh government has published a plan to promote teaching as a career among BAME communities.

That will be adopted from 2022 and includes offering money to those who sign up to train as teachers.

Similar packages already exist to attract Welsh-medium teachers, and teachers for high demand subjects like maths and the sciences.

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Those running initial teaching courses will be required to work towards getting a certain percentage of trainees from BAME backgrounds.

Education and Welsh language minister, Jeremy Miles, said the current number of ethnic minority teachers was "simply not good enough".

Betty Campbell was the first black headteacher in Wales

"That is why we are launching this much needed plan, so that we have a workforce that better reflects the population of Wales," he said.

"Importantly, increasing diversity in schools should not only apply to areas where there is a higher proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds, but across the whole of Wales."

A statue of her was unveiled in Cardiff city centre in October

It follows a new prize for teachers or schools that celebrate diversity and inclusion in the classroom.

The Betty Campbell Award honours the former head teacher of Cardiff's Mount Stuart Primary School and Wales' first black head teacher.

A statue of her was unveiled in Cardiff city centre in October.

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