SCHOOL leaders have warned that a Welsh Government plan to increase incentive payments for trainee teachers in priority subjects risks creating a “two-tier workforce”.

NAHT Cymru said the move may help attract some new teachers, but warned it does not address the wider recruitment and retention crisis facing schools across Wales.

The Welsh Government’s priority subject incentive scheme offers grants to eligible postgraduate teacher trainees in subjects including biology, chemistry, design and technology, digital technology and computer science, mathematics, international languages, physics and Welsh.

Laura Doel, national secretary of NAHT Cymru, said: “While we agree that an ambitious plan to help schools struggling with recruitment and retention of teachers is needed, we don’t think focusing on subject-specific incentives is the way to go.

“This risks creating a two-tier workforce and appears to be a short-term sticking plaster solution for a systemic problem.”

She said there appeared to be no requirement for teachers to remain in schools for a set number of years after induction in order to keep the payment.

Ms Doel added: “We know a significant proportion of teachers leave the profession within the first five years of teaching.”

NAHT Cymru said ministers should focus instead on the wider pressures affecting teachers, school leaders and primary schools, as well as secondary subjects where recruitment is difficult.

The union said improving pay, terms and conditions, and reducing workload would do more to make teaching an attractive long-term career.

Ms Doel said: “By going further in restoring the real-terms value of pay, which fell sharply over the previous decade, improving terms and conditions, and bearing down on unsustainable levels of workload, ministers could make the profession an attractive long-term career proposition once again.

“But schools also need fairer funding to recruit the staff and support staff they need and deliver for pupils.”

She said ensuring schools receive the full consequential funding owed through the Barnett Formula should be a priority for the new administration.

NAHT represents more than 38,000 school leaders across early years, primary, secondary and special schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Claire Archibald says proposals affecting Cilgerran and Manorbier show rural families risk losing real parental choice

A REFORM UK Senedd member has asked the Welsh Government to intervene over the future of Church schools in West Wales, following growing concern about proposals affecting rural schools in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.

Claire Archibald MS, who represents Ceredigion Penfro, has written to Education Minister Anna Brychan asking what safeguards are in place to protect Church schools, Christian education and parental choice.

Her intervention follows months of controversy over the future of rural education provision, including proposals affecting Cilgerran Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled School and Manorbier Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled School.

Pembrokeshire County Council has consulted on plans to discontinue Cilgerran Church in Wales VC School and establish a new 3-11 community school in its place.

In Manorbier, the council has also progressed proposals to discontinue the village’s Church in Wales school, which has been at the centre of a long-running row following a serious fire.

Ms Archibald said the issue should not be treated as a simple administrative change.

She said: “Christianity has helped shape Wales for generations. It is part of our history, our values, and the life of many of our villages and towns.

“Church schools matter. They give parents the choice of a Christian education for their children, and in rural areas that choice can be lost very easily when a school is closed, reorganised, or stripped of its Church status.

“I fully understand that councils face financial pressures and difficult decisions, but we cannot allow those pressures to quietly erase Christian school provision from rural Wales.

“These are not just technical changes. They affect parental choice, community life, and the future of Christian education in Wales.”

Rural school concerns

The Herald has previously reported on strong opposition to changes at Cilgerran, where many parents and residents have argued that the school’s Church status is part of its identity and community role.

The Manorbier case has also attracted significant local attention, with campaigners arguing that the village school should be protected following the disruption caused by the fire and the temporary relocation of pupils.

Ms Archibald said the pattern across rural Wales was worrying.

She has also raised concerns about proposals affecting village schools in Ceredigion, including Ysgol Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, a community school on a Church in Wales-owned site.

She said: “Parents should not be told they have choice on paper when the nearest realistic alternative may be many miles away.

“In rural areas, distance matters. Transport matters. Community matters.

“I have asked the Education Minister to set out what safeguards are in place to protect Church schools, Christian education, rural communities, and parental choice before these decisions are allowed to go ahead.”

Questions for ministers

In her letter, Ms Archibald asked the Welsh Government to confirm what assessment has been made of Church schools closed, discontinued, or proposed for category change in Wales.

She has also asked whether stronger guidance will be issued to councils considering proposals that affect Church schools.

The MS has requested that the minister meet affected parents, governors, local representatives and the relevant dioceses.

Councils have previously argued that school reorganisation proposals must take account of pupil numbers, building conditions, budgets, educational standards and long-term sustainability.

However, campaigners say that in rural communities the closure or reclassification of a school can have consequences beyond education, including the loss of community identity, longer journeys for children and fewer realistic choices for parents.

A CALL to allow a Pembrokeshire chapel to keep a temporary classroom used as a Sunday school while funding for a permanent building is sought has been submitted to county planners.

In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Rev Jennifer Gough, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, seeks permission for the retention of a temporary classroom at Bethlehem Chapel, Bethlehem, near Haverfordwest.

A supporting statement says: “The chapel maintains an active congregation with Sunday school provision. The temporary classroom gained planning permission in 2017 and comprises a portacabin arrangement located to the west of the chapel. It comprises a single classroom internally and simple elevations. The structure is temporary with all services located within the existing chapel.

“Planning permission was originally granted in 2018 for temporary consent for the classroom. This has been reissued twice [in 2020 and 2022 schemes] whilst the chapel secured funds and agreed designs to allow for a permanent solution.

“This application seeks to renew consent for the temporary classroom which lapsed in February 2026, to allow for a final period of use of the temporary arrangement.

“Work is underway to submit a long-term, permanent arrangement to secure a classroom for the Sunday school but future planning and building work could still take some time. Therefore, to future proof the Sunday School and continue to support the congregation, further temporary permission is sought.”

It adds: “All features of this application remain the same as previous, with no additional arrangements proposed. There will be no foul output generated from this proposal.”

In finishes: “Overall, this application seeks to retain the temporary classroom for one further period to allow a permanent solution to be submitted into planning and subsequently be built, all whilst supporting the existing Sunday school and maintaining a functional congregation and chapel.

“The temporary classroom has been deemed appropriate under previous applications and there are no changes proposed, with all detailed matters remaining acceptable.”

The application will be considered by county planners at a later date.

At the start of the year, an extension to the chapel, for community activities, was approved by planning officers.