We believe that all learners have the right to world-class education, delivered in a safe, diverse and inclusive setting and within a sector which supports the wider community, employers and the economy.
ColegauCymru Equality and Diversity Strategic Group
Chaired by Cardiff and Vale College Chief Executive, Mike James, the ColegauCymru Equality and Diversity Strategic Group considers matters of equality and diversity in the FE sector and reports to the Principals’ Forum on actions to make progress. The equality and diversity focus of the group is predominantly based on the nine protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act 2010 but is expanded to include the Welsh language and neurodiversity.
Supporting Welsh Government on its journey to becoming an Anti-Racist Wales by 2030
The FE sector in Wales is showing real leadership in its journey towards anti-racism, and supporting the Welsh Government’s ambition of on creating an anti-racist Wales. We are not complacent about the scale of the challenge or that strategies alone can prevent the experience of racism that learners and staff face. ColegauCymru, on behalf of our member colleges, is therefore committed to making tangible strides to be the leading sector to support Welsh Government in achieving the ambitious goal of an anti-racist Wales by 2030, including:
- All 13 of our FE member institutions have developed their own Anti-Racism Action Plans to take this work forward at a local level. They have each developed and shared resources to support both learners and staff, along with the delivery of bespoke training.
- We’re working with a range of specialist organisations including the Black Leadership Group, to help achieve our shared vision of an anti-racist Wales.
- We submit responses to consultations published by Welsh Government and other organisations to ensure that the voice of learners and staff across the sector is heard.
- We give evidence as part of a scrutiny sessions to various Senedd committees highlighting how FEIs are leading the way in their commitment to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all learners. We also use these platforms to highlight inequality and to call for additional support.
Women and girls
- ColegauCymru sits on the Welsh Government’s Period Dignity Roundtable, which provides guidance on issues that impact period dignity in Wales.
- We support the Welsh Government’s Period Proud Wales - providing funding to FEIs and other groups via the period dignity grant to ensure free access to period products, in the most dignified way possible. All learners and staff across the college community now have access to free period products, with a focus on supporting those from low-income households.
- ColegauCymru and all our member institutions are committed to supporting women through the menopause and have signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge.
- Following the publication of Estyn’s report on Peer-on-peer sexual harassment of 16 to 18-year-old learners in further education, 7 of our colleges are working together on a project supported by Welsh Government, looking at tackling harassment in FE, to help inform the sector’s ongoing response.
- ColegauCymru has since been successful in securing Taith Pathway 2 funding to partner with Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) to establish a Community of Practice between colleges in Wales and Canada to address some of the issues raised in Estyn’s report. The project’s aim is to build a transnational Community of Practice, which will bring together FE staff from Wales and our Canadian partner, CICan, with a common interest in this field, to share knowledge, develop new learning, and collate examples of best practice through case studies.
Welsh language
- Our FEIs are supportive of the ambitious Welsh Government vision for 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050 and are committed to broadening the Welsh language offer across the FE sector.
- We work closely with Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol who deliver the Cymraeg Gwaith scheme which supports over 400 staff across 11 colleges annually to increase the use of their Welsh in the workplace.
We’re proud that our FEIs are:
- Disability confident employers - part of a UK Government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with health conditions.
- Committed to supporting mental health and have signed the Time to Change Pledge, which seeks to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination.
- Supportive of LGBTQ+ rights - ColegauCymru sits on the Welsh Government Transgender Practitioner Advisory Group, which supports advancing LGBTQ+ equality and implementing the LGTBQ+ Action Plan for Wales.
Further Information
Amy Evans, Policy Officer
Amy.Evans@ColegauCymru.ac.uk
Clare Williams, Policy Officer
clare.williams@colegaucymru.ac.uk
