TEACHERS in Wales today launched a scathing attack on Welsh politicians’ failures to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in schools.

The blunt comments from NASUWT Cymru were directed at the latest report from the Senedd’s children, young people and education scrutiny committee published this morning.

National official Neil Butler said: “Let’s stop just talking about the problems and instead start making real and significant changes to teacher workload.

“NASUWT Cymru has been in talks with the Welsh government for many years about teacher workload but nothing has been done to significantly change the situation in schools in Wales.”

The teaching union hit out at the committee’s report saying they were “not particularly helpful” with “plenty of sympathy but no positive action.”

The Senedd report found growing pressure on Wales’s teaching workforce is threatening schools’ ability to recruit and retain staff.

Scrutiny committee chairwoman Buffy Williams said: “Teachers go above and beyond for learners every day, but the pressures they face are becoming increasingly unsustainable.

“Our inquiry makes clear that workload, behaviour challenges and reform fatigue are driving too many out of the profession they love,” Welsh Labour’s Senedd member Ms Williams said.

NAHT Cymru’s Laura Doel said: “This report is pointless unless someone sits up and listens to the profession.

“This comes back to the completely inadequate levels of funding going into our schools, which prevents leaders being able to ensure they have sufficient staff to manage workload.”

The head teachers’ union urged the Welsh government to invest in creating the conditions where teachers and leaders feel valued and supported.

The committee’s key recommendations are to allow planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time to be taken off‑site after many teachers reported that uninterrupted planning time is impossible within the school environment.

Mr Butler said that teachers can already do PPA off-site if given permission and emphasised it was the quantity that matters.

“Increased PPA would significantly reduce workload, making teaching more attractive as a profession,” Mr Butler said.

NEU Cymru’s Nicola Fitzpatrick said: “Schools are at breaking point and the Welsh government needs to find the funding to save education in Wales, and support the workforce to deliver for every child.”

The Welsh government said: “Along with countries across the world, Wales is facing issues in recruitment and retention, and concerns around the wellbeing of teachers, school leaders and support staff. We continue to work with the teaching profession and partners as we develop our Strategic Education Workforce Plan, which will be published in March.

“We are also making significant progress in tackling staff workload and have increased teachers’ pay by 4 per cent for 2025/26. We hope these steps will help to improve teacher retention.”