A Plaid Cymru pledge to guarantee libraries in all primary schools in Wales is “short-sighted”, a teaching union has said.

The party said that if in government, it would guarantee access to library spaces in every primary school in Wales by 2030 as part of a wider approach to improve literacy outcomes.

Plaid Cymru Education spokesperson Cefin Campbell MS said: “The latest PISA results for reading put Wales at the bottom of the UK rankings.

“This isn’t as good as it gets for our children.

“Plaid Cymru believes we need a ‘Back to Basics’ approach to improve outcomes, and guaranteeing library spaces in every primary school is one step towards that.

“Labour have neglected the foundational role of libraries in literacy.”

Laura Doel, national secretary for NAHT Cymru, said: “Access to books is incredibly important for children – there is plenty of evidence of the positive impact it has on literacy.

“But all primary schools already provide access to books, so Plaid Cymru’s focus on specific library spaces seems like something of a red herring.

“There are so many incredibly urgent demands on education funding and school budgets – including rapidly spiralling costs, buildings in disrepair, and sharply increasing additional learning needs – libraries are sadly quite far down the priority list for most schools.

“Improving literacy is absolutely a key focus, but our members tell us that sustainable investment in reading schemes is what is most needed.

“Ultimately, the best way to boost literacy is to ensure all pupils have dedicated high-quality teachers and school staff in front of them and the learning support they need.

“Any policy that directs funding away from these crucial fundamentals would be short-sighted. With limited resources available to schools, it would not be right to prioritise a blanket requirement for them all to have a library in place.”