COUNCIL education services will not disappear altogether, even if departments across Wales are forced to merge, the head of a leading schools body said yesterday.

The man responsible for bringing up standards in education in South East Wales, the head of the Education Achievement Service (EAS) Steve Davies, said that despite a government push to merge education departments across Wales, local services in Gwent will not be eradicated entirely.

“Education departments will not all merge into one region,” said Mr Davies, who headed up the 120-employee EAS company last June.

“Some services the EAS does not provide, such as additional learning needs, and these will continue to be delivered by councils, but it could well be that these councils get together.

“I believe there will still be council services albeit being delivered on a shared basis.”

The not-for-profit EAS is one of four Welsh consortia – dubbed “super authorities” – tasked with improving education standards by former education minister Leighton Andrews, after poor results in literacy and numeracy compared to other countries.

Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen’s education departments are in special measures and control over improvement has either been handed to the EAS or appointed commissioners.

All Gwent schools are now being continuously monitored by the EAS, as well as periodically by Estyn.

The EAS places schools in one of five categories – known only to the head teachers and governing bodies – based on performance, similar to the Welsh Government’s banding programme.

Category four and five schools are given an intervention plan – much like the action plan that councils draw up when deemed by Estyn to be failing.

Currently 10 primary and two secondary school teachers from across Gwent, whose schools are in category one and two, have been identified as good teachers who can help poor performing schools.

In September this year all schools in Gwent will receive a set of guidelines spelling out what makes an “excellent”, “good”, “adequate” or “unsatisfactory” school according to the EAS.

This goes beyond what Estyn currently sets out, which are examples of “good” and “unsatisfactory”

schools, said Mr Davies.

“We have some really outstanding schools in Southeast Wales and a great number of these are actually part of the solution in he