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The Welsh Government has come under fire over the decline in the number of specialist maths teachers, and quizzed over the quality of school maths lessons.

A damning Estyn report, released earlier this month, said in some cases teachers were “finding activities to keep pupils busy” during maths lessons, sparking the questions from both the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru.

Natasha Asghar, Conservative Senedd Member for South Wales East and shadow minister for education, questioned the Welsh Government over both it’s record and response to the report.

In response, education secretary Lynne Neagle said: “I have accepted all of the recommendations made by Estyn, and we are working closely together to solve these issues.

“Recruitment is a key part of this problem, so we need to make becoming a maths teacher as attractive as possible. This includes looking at cash incentives, but also other core reasons.”

Hayden Llewellyn, the Education Workforce Council chief executive, gave evidence to the Senedd education committee’s inquiry on recruitment earlier this month.

When discussing maths specifically, Mr Llewellyn said: “I’m sorry to say, having tracked recruitment and retention for many years – I can’t really see secondary improving.”

He went on to raise the example of 27 maths teachers being turned out in August, with Wales looking for nearer 130 before saying: “It’s the lowest I’ve ever seen over the years”.

In its review, Estyn said there is a lack of understanding of Curriculum for Wales requirements and guidance. The schools inspectorate reported that teachers often didn’t know who to approach to clarify and support curriculum-related questions, and this “added unhelpfully to teachers’ confusion and cognitive overload”.

Continuing her attack on the Welsh Government on Thursday June 18, Ms Asghar cited what she called a “scathing list of problems” before asking: “Is there anything this government gets right?”

Ms Neagle dismissed the points raised calling them “misinformation”, and told Ms Asghar to “check her numbers” – accusing the Tory MS of using “outdated figures”.

Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell followed a similar line of attack, stating “pupils deserve better” before asking Ms Neagle what she will do different after “years” of negative Estyn reports on maths specifically.

Ms Neagle responded: “I can’t talk on behalf of my predecessors, but I am in no way complacent to the challenge ahead.

“What keeps me awake at night is letting children down, and we will work with Estyn to focus on the granular details of this issue.”