Background
Griffith was born in Ireland on 4 December 1956. Her family comes from mining villages near Neath, in South Wales. Her father was Professor T. Gwynfor Griffith; her mother was Dr. Rhiannon Howell. She was educated at Newland High School for Girls (now called Newland School for Girls) in Hull and Somerville College, Oxford where she graduated with a first class degree in modern languages in 1979. After Oxford, she trained to be a teacher (PGCE) at the University of Wales, Bangor.
Griffith became a teacher at Queen Elizabeth Cambria School in Carmarthen then Gowerton Comprehensive School in Swansea. She was a member of the NUT. Prior to entering Parliament, she was an education adviser and an Estyn Schools Inspector (the Welsh equivalent of Ofsted) from 1992. Immediately before becoming an MP she was Head of Languages at Morriston Comprehensive School, Swansea. She speaks five languages: English, Welsh, Italian, French and Spanish and has written a book on language teaching.
Griffith was a founder member of a local Women's Aid organisation and is a member of the National Union of Teachers and Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers.
Read more about this topic: Nia Griffith
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