Commenting as Plaid Cymru set out education plan to “raise standards and support teachers”, Laura Doel, national secretary of school leaders' union NAHT Cymru, said:

“We have listened with interest to the promises made by Plaid Cymru ahead of the Senedd election this weekend, particularly when it comes to raising standards and investing in the workforce.

“Our position is the two go hand in hand: without supporting highly-skilled teachers and teaching assistants in our classroom, and strong, empowered leaders in our schools, we cannot hope to tackle the challenges around standards.

“An investment in the workforce, and a sustainable plan to recruit and retain teachers and leaders, is central to the success of education to ensure we have the people we need to deliver for our children and young people.

“That investment must come through a coherent strategy of training and development, improved terms and conditions, and competitive pay, as well as a manageable workload to allow teachers and leaders to concentrate on their core purpose of teaching and learning.

“We look forward to more detailed discussions on incentives, given that we have some concerns about creating a two-tier workforce and whether incentives work or are just a short-term measure for a systemic problem.

“As for raising literacy rates - again, we support the aim to encourage a love of reading in schools, but we must ensure the building blocks are in place so that children can enjoy such facilities.

“We see investment in schools in order to be able to offer support to children to read through interventions as the top priority, and would encourage all parties to focus on this before ploughing money into libraries.”