BBC“I’ve never seen that lady in my life,” one child said of First Minister Eluned Morgan as pupils were shown photographs of prominent British politicians.
The survey showed just 8% of 201 secondary school pupils asked could identify Wales’ first minister, and fewer than half recognised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Wales’ children’s commissioner is calling for a stronger focus on politics in school.
And political commentator Richard Wyn Jones said there was a “massive amount of work to be done” by the next Senedd election to engage 16-year-olds who will be able to vote.
The Welsh government said supporting learners to vote was a mandatory part of the curriculum.
Students at Birchgrove Comprehensive in Swansea were shown pictures of Sir Keir and Morgan.
“I’ve never seen that lady in my life”, said Thomas, 15.
Jackson, also 15, said the 20mph rule was the first time a lot of his friends realised that Wales could make its own policies.
“I feel like English politics is a lot more mainstream. It’s what people think matters more. People think that Welsh politics doesn’t really have an effect even though it does,” he said.
‘No one reads newspapers’
“I get most of my news through social media, things like TikTok and Instagram,” Jackson added.
“It’s quite weird because I feel like a lot of the political news is still in things like newspapers and no one under the age of 45 reads newspapers.”
Lottie, 15, says people know more about UK politics.
She said: “I think it is quite concerning obviously because when you’re 16 in Wales you can legally vote. So if people don’t know who she [Morgan] is then they’re not going to vote.”
Carol Taylor, who teaches at the school, said she wanted to give the students some lessons in politics, as many parents may not vote themselves.
“At the minimum, they’ll be voting in the council elections within two years, and they have absolutely no idea about council elections. They probably won’t turn up to vote,” she said.
Pupils ‘know more about Donald Trump’
“A lot of our pupils are very very confused about American and British politics,” Ms Taylor said.
“Donald Trump is on their newsfeed very regularly. They’re very aware of him and they think he’s really funny.”
Children’s Commissioner Rocio Cifuentes said: “We’re brought up on this notion that politics is a dirty word or something not to be discussed at the dinner table, but we are really doing children and young people a disservice by not educating them effectively on these topics.”
The report also calls on political parties to engage with young people in the run-up to next year’s election.
“I think the media also has an important role to play.
“For example, there is currently no Wales-specific equivalent to Newsround which many of the children and young people we’ve spoken to use to get their information.”
In 2021, 16-year-olds were able to vote in Senedd and local government elections in Wales.
But according to Richard Wyn Jones from The Wales Governance Centre, Covid meant children missed out on learning about politics in the lead up to it.
“2021 was a false start. We need to start again, hopefully without Covid. And just basically pretend that 2021 didn’t happen,” he said.
‘We need to start earlier’
The Welsh election study by the Wales Governance Centre found 28% of 16 and 17-year-olds who participated said they had discussed voting with someone at school, or in a youth club or society in the run-up to the last election.
Mr Jones said people needed to learn about politics from a young age and not just during the final years of education.
“This is somehow something that people are slightly suspicious of and I think that’s a problem because I think you need to start earlier,” he said.
“I think you need to try and inculcate people into an understanding of the structures of governance, how you can engage in those structures.”
A Welsh government spokesman said: “We fund organisations to deliver projects in the classroom to support young people to participate in the democratic process.
“This includes sessions which bring together young people and elected representatives.”