Welsh Assembly Labour candidate Catherine Fookes has declared that there is still much room for improvement in the wake of the latest Estyn report which takes MCC Education out of special measures. She believes strongly this good news should not be used as an excuse to cut education funding.

Estyn finally removed Monmouth County Council Education Department from special measures in the second week of January 2016. Its inspectors have been closely monitoring the County after identifying numerous shortcomings in 2012. The latest assessment has identified that the County Council has achieved good progress in two out of six recommendations. That means that four issues must still be dealt with.

The Estyn report points out that pupils’ progress in core subjects remains below average from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school. A key indicator is that too few able and talented students pupils achieve five or more GCSE A* - A grades at Key Stage 4.

Ms Fookes said: “I am of course delighted that Monmouthshire is out of special measures but the Council should never have allowed our education system to get into special measures in the first place. I congratulate teachers and head teachers for all their hard work in turning things around. However there are still areas where only satisfactory progress has been made. So I would urge MCC not to be complacent; progress is still needed in four out of six problem areas. The Council must not use this report as an excuse to cut education funding. Our pupils deserve better.”

SEE THIS WEEK’S CHRONICLE FOR THE FULL STORY