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Carwyn Jones is due to fly out to the climate summit in Copenhagen on Monday

The new first minister has reaffirmed his commitment to increase education spending in Wales.

Speaking on the BBC Politics Show, Carwyn Jones admitted the assembly government’s budget faced a real challenge over the next few years.

But he was convinced that a rise in education spending was affordable.

Mr Jones told the programme he wanted to make sure Wales looked to “catch up” with England but said it could not be done overnight.

He said: “I want to make sure that that money is channelled into ensuring that we spend more money per head on children in Wales than we do at the moment and we will look to catch up with England.

It’s not an unaffordable level – it’s something we can do First Minister Carwyn Jones

“It would be wrong to give a commitment to a level of spending that was unaffordable but I think that this is affordable.”

Mr Jones took over from Rhodri Morgan as first minister on Wednesday.

In winning the Labour leadership in Wales, the education spend increase was one of the Bridgend AM’s key manifesto commitments.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said it was important Wales was at the climate change summit

“I made a very clear commitment on education and that is that from 2011 onwards I’d like to see the education budget raised by 1% every year above the percentage increase that we get from Westminster.

“It’s not an unaffordable level – it’s something we can do”.

When asked about ring-fencing spending in other areas, Mr Jones said health, education and public services were but it was going to be “tough” over the next year.

Mr Jones will be making his first trip abroad in his new post on Monday when he goes to the Copenhagen climate change summit.

“They (China and the United States) can make a bigger contribution but we can make a contribution. That is why I want to go to Copenhagen – so that people know what’s going on in Wales.”