English: I would be the first person in this Chamber to acknowledge the hard work of teachers across Wales, who do their best to support learners to achieve their potential. I want to congratulate as well those young people across Wales, including my own daughter and my own son, who managed to get decent grades in their GCSEs and A-levels this year. I also think it's appropriate to thank the school governors who've contributed to the success and turnaround in many of our schools. We had David Melding talk about his experience as a school governor and I know that there are many, including myself, that are also school governors in this Chamber. But these people are volunteers, giving of their own time, dedicating themselves to their community by serving on those school governing bodies, and I want to pay tribute to each and every one of them. The Cabinet Secretary likes to choose and make comparisons with England when it suits her, but doesn't like to make comparisons with other parts of the UK when it doesn't suit her. The reality is that we know that per-pupil funding in Wales is less than it is over the border in England. That has consequences for the opportunities for young people to have the resources in those schools to be able to reach their potential. These are not things that just, you know, I am saying or anybody on these benches; other individuals, the teaching unions, are also adding to a growing chorus of voices, frankly, that are saying you have to do something about this. And I have to say, Suzy - . [ Laughter.] And I have to say, Kirsty, pardon me - Cabinet Secretary - that it's a little bit rich of the Liberal Democrats to do a deal - we would rather Suzy there - to do a deal to go into Government on the basis that an extra £100 million is going to be invested in education to improve school standards, and then whip it away with cuts on the other hand, because you haven't actually increased school spending by £100 million over this term. That is not happening at all and, you know, if you get your calculator out it's very clear that that's not happened because, of course, the spending has been reducing. I have a lot of sympathy, actually, for what Michelle Brown was saying earlier on in her contribution. Ultimately, it is our economy that will pay a price for this failure in future years. If we don't have a highly educated workforce that is fit for the future, our economy is going to suffer. And in addition, we're not going to attract people in to create the wealth in our country if we've got a poor education system, and we're going to discourage people from staying here also if our education system is poor. So, we've got to raise our game. We've got to make sure that it's better than it currently is. Mohammad Asghar was absolutely right to point out the failures in recent years. He was absolutely right to talk about the wonderful heritage that we have as well here in Wales, in terms of the pioneering school movements that Griffith Jones of Llanddowror and others established all those many years ago. But the reality is that when we look at those PISA rankings, I'm not sure what the Government's expectation is going to be when the next set of rankings are going to be published, but I think that aspirations are pretty low in this Chamber because no-one feels very confident that we've managed to turn that situation around since the last set of results. And I've heard what the inspectorate have said - the chief inspector - that we shouldn't expect any significant improvement until 2022. Well, frankly, that's too long for the children, as Caroline Jones rightly pointed out, that are currently in the education system. We've got to be more ambitious than having to wait four years and press the reset button at that point. We need to be turning this situation around right now for those young people, because otherwise they will be another failed generation as a result of this very tired Labour-led Government. I think also we need to reflect on what is going on elsewhere in the UK, because the situation is improving, actually, in England. The standards are rising. They're holding their own in terms of the world economy and league tables. We're the only ones that are going backwards here to any significant extent. We're the only ones in the bottom half of the world rankings in terms of any home nation in the UK, and that is not something of which we can be proud. So, I implore you, Cabinet Secretary, I implore you to get more money from the finance Cabinet Secretary in this year's budget round, invest it in our schools so that they have the resources that they need to be able to improve the results in future years. I urge you to pick up the pace of reform so that we don't have to wait for another four years before we see the improvements that we need. I urge you to give a shot in the arm to those teachers - not just in our schools but also in our further education colleges, those lecturers who've helped to deliver decent GCSE and A-level results this year - so that we can really begin to see the sort of potential that we have in Wales being fully realised. Because unless we see that, we won't see the future of Wales being the way that it ought to be.
Welsh: Fi fyddai'r person cyntaf yn y Siambr hon i gydnabod gwaith caled athrawon ledled Cymru sy'n gwneud eu gorau i gynorthwyo dysgwyr i gyrraedd eu potensial. Hoffwn longyfarch y bobl ifanc hyn ledled Cymru hefyd, gan gynnwys fy merch a fy mab fy hun, a lwyddodd i gael graddau digon da yn eu TGAU a Safon Uwch eleni. Credaf hefyd ei bod yn briodol imi ddiolch i'r llywodraethwyr ysgolion sydd wedi cyfrannu at lwyddiant a gweddnewidiad llawer o'n hysgolion. Clywsom David Melding yn sôn am ei brofiad fel llywodraethwr ysgol, a gwn fod sawl un, gan fy nghynnwys i, hefyd yn llywodraethwyr ysgolion yn y Siambr hon. Ond gwirfoddolwyr yw'r bobl hyn, sy'n rhoi eu hamser eu hunain, gan ymroi i'w cymuned drwy wasanaethu ar gyrff llywodraethu'r ysgolion hynny, a hoffwn dalu teyrnged i bob un ohonynt. Mae Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet yn hoffi dewis a chymharu â Lloegr pan fo'n gyfleus iddi, ond nid yw'n hoffi gwneud cymariaethau â rhannau eraill o'r DU pan nad yw'n gyfleus iddi wneud hynny. Y gwir yw ein bod yn gwybod bod cyllid y disgybl yng Nghymru yn llai na'r hyn ydyw dros y ffin yn Lloegr. Mae canlyniadau'n deillio o hyn o ran y cyfleoedd i bobl ifanc gael yr adnoddau yn yr ysgolion hynny i allu cyrraedd eu potensial. Nid pethau rwyf fi neu unrhyw un arall ar y meinciau hyn yn eu dweud yw'r rhain; mae unigolion eraill, yr undebau athrawon, hefyd yn ychwanegu at y corws cynyddol o leisiau, a bod yn onest, sy'n dweud bod yn rhaid ichi wneud rhywbeth ynglŷn â hyn. A rhaid imi ddweud, Suzy - . [ Chwerthin.] A rhaid imi ddweud, Kirsty, maddeuwch imi - Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet - fod ychydig bach o wyneb gan y Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol yn taro bargen - byddai'n well gennym weld Suzy yno - i ddod yn rhan o'r Llywodraeth ar y sail fod £100 miliwn ychwanegol yn mynd i gael ei fuddsoddi mewn addysg er mwyn gwella safonau ysgolion, a'i chwipio ymaith wedyn gan doriadau ar y llaw arall, oherwydd nid ydych wedi ychwanegu £100 miliwn at y gwariant dros y tymor hwn. Nid yw hynny'n digwydd o gwbl, ac os defnyddiwch eich cyfrifiannell, mae'n glir iawn na ddigwyddodd hynny oherwydd, wrth gwrs, mae'r gwariant wedi bod yn lleihau. Mae gennyf lawer o gydymdeimlad, mewn gwirionedd, â'r hyn a ddywedodd Michelle Brown yn gynharach yn ei chyfraniad. Yn y pen draw, ein heconomi fydd yn talu'r pris am y methiant hwn yn y blynyddoedd i ddod. Os nad oes gennym weithlu addysgedig iawn sy'n addas ar gyfer y dyfodol, mae ein heconomi'n mynd i ddioddef. Ac yn ogystal, nid ydym yn mynd i ddenu pobl i mewn i greu cyfoeth yn ein gwlad os oes gennym system addysg wael, ac rydym yn mynd i atal pobl rhag aros yma hefyd os yw ein system addysg yn wael. Felly, mae'n rhaid i ni godi ein safonau. Rhaid inni wneud yn siŵr ei bod yn system well nag yw hi ar hyn o bryd. Roedd Mohammad Asghar yn llygad ei le yn tynnu sylw at y methiannau yn y blynyddoedd diwethaf. Roedd yn llygad ei le yn sôn am y dreftadaeth fendigedig sydd gennym yma yng Nghymru, o ran y mudiadau ysgol arloesol a sefydlodd Griffith Jones Llanddowror ac eraill yr holl flynyddoedd hynny yn ôl. Ond y realiti wrth inni edrych ar y safleoedd PISA, yw nad wyf yn siŵr beth fydd disgwyliad y Llywodraeth pan gyhoeddir y set nesaf o safleoedd, ond credaf fod yr uchelgeisiau'n go isel yn y Siambr hon gan nad oes neb yn teimlo'n hyderus iawn ein bod wedi llwyddo i newid y sefyllfa ers y set ddiwethaf o ganlyniadau. A chlywais yr hyn a ddywedodd yr arolygiaeth - y prif arolygydd - na ddylem ddisgwyl unrhyw welliannau sylweddol tan 2022. Wel, a dweud y gwir, mae hynny'n rhy hir i'r plant sydd yn y system addysg ar hyn o bryd, fel y nododd Caroline Jones yn gwbl gywir. Rhaid inni fod yn fwy uchelgeisiol na gorfod aros pedair blynedd a phwyso'r botwm ailosod ar y pwynt hwnnw. Mae angen inni newid y sefyllfa hon yn awr ar gyfer y bobl ifanc hynny, oherwydd fel arall byddant yn genhedlaeth arall sydd wedi cael cam o ganlyniad i'r Llywodraeth flinedig hon dan arweiniad Llafur. Credaf hefyd fod angen inni fyfyrio ar yr hyn sy'n digwydd mewn mannau eraill yn y DU, oherwydd mae'r sefyllfa'n gwella yn Lloegr mewn gwirionedd. Mae'r safonau'n codi. Maent yn dal eu tir o ran economi byd a thablau cynghrair. Ni yw'r unig rai sy'n mynd tuag yn ôl i raddau sylweddol. Ni yw'r unig un o bedair gwlad y DU sydd yn hanner gwaelod y gynghrair fyd-eang, ac nid yw hynny'n rhywbeth y gallwn ymfalchïo ynddo. Felly, erfyniaf arnoch, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, i gael mwy o arian gan Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros gyllid yn rownd y gyllideb ar gyfer y flwyddyn hon, i'w fuddsoddi yn ein hysgolion fel bod ganddynt yr adnoddau sydd eu hangen arnynt i allu gwella'r canlyniadau yn y blynyddoedd i ddod. Rwy'n eich annog i gyflymu'r gwaith o ddiwygio fel nad oes yn rhaid inni aros am bedair blynedd arall cyn inni weld y gwelliannau sydd eu hangen arnom. Rwy'n eich annog i roi hwb go iawn i'r athrawon hynny - nid yn unig yn ein hysgolion, ond hefyd yn ein colegau addysg bellach, y darlithwyr sydd wedi helpu i sicrhau canlyniadau TGAU a Safon Uwch boddhaol eleni - fel y gallwn ddechrau gweld y math o botensial sydd gennym yng Nghymru yn cael ei wireddu'n llawn. Oni welwn hynny, ni fydd y dyfodol i Gymru yn debyg i'r hyn y dylai fod.