Having co-Sponsored and attended the 21st annual ‘Science in the Senedd Event 2025’ yesterday, North Wales MS Mark Isherwood is calling for the Welsh Government’s new Curriculum for Wales to evolve in tandem with the pace of scientific and technological change.
The event was organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry in cooperation with the Welsh Scientific and Engineering community. This year’s theme was “Education and the Future Workforce”.
Commenting after the event, Mr Isherwood said:
“We are on the edge of profound societal transformation. Artificial intelligence, climate change, biotechnology, and energy transition are reshaping our lives right now. How we educate today will determine how we thrive tomorrow.
“If we are to build a future workforce that is adaptable, inclusive, and forward-looking, we must first build an education system that is equally so.
“We must ensure that the Welsh Government’s new Curriculum for Wales evolves in tandem with the pace of scientific and technological change.
“As suggested in the Cross-Party Group on Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine, STEMM, it may be time to revisit how this curriculum connects directly to labour market needs - with a particular focus on the skills required for the green economy, advanced manufacturing, and digital innovation: Integrating emerging fields like AI, data science, and green technologies, embedding opportunities for interdisciplinary learning, and supporting teachers with the professional development, time, and resources to bring this vision to life.
“Presentations to the Cross-Party Group have also highlighted the accelerating impact of AI on both education and industry.
“To prepare for this, we must: embed AI literacy across the education pipeline, upskill our current workforce with continuous, accessible training, ensure ethics, equity, and accountability are not afterthoughts but core components of how we teach and apply AI, and ensure that merging technologies are understood, challenged, and used to build a better society.
“Although University degrees are often seen as the main route for STEMM Careers, a modern science and technology economy is powered just as much by technicians, apprentices, and vocational specialists as it is by PhD researchers – and we must treat every route into STEMM as equally valid, supported, and celebrated.”