English: I hope you don't mind if I start my contribution by thanking Members from across the Siambr for their kind words and well wishes during my recent stay in hospital. It meant a lot to me, and it's very good to be back today. It's also good to be back participating in a Welsh Conservative debate today on the impact of COVID on education. Parents, pupils and, in particular, teaching staff have really risen to the challenge of working differently and competing with ever-changing rules and regulations to meet that difficult balance between providing an excellent education and keeping themselves and others safe. And so have communities. And I wanted to take the opportunity to praise the work of local volunteers and community groups in helping out at short notice when the pandemic first hit to make the reality of virtual learning happen. A key example would be the Porthcawl COVID-19 action group in my region who sourced and donated computers and laptops to school-aged pupils who would perhaps have otherwise been unable to access online classes. So, a big thank you to them and to the other groups that I know across Wales who helped ensure that young people got an education, despite the restrictions that were brought about by the pandemic. But I wanted to focus my remarks today on the impact of school closures. Because we all know the value of a single school day. The lessons learnt, whether they're on the curriculum or not, are invaluable and incomparable, and last year in Wales, pupils lost, as Laura Anne Jones said, 66 of those days due to COVID-19 measures in place in Wales, which is more time in the classroom lost than in any other part of the UK. And as we mentioned in our motion, Estyn have made clear that that meant that learners' maths, reading, Welsh language and social skills have all suffered as a result of school closures. But the truth is we just don't know yet how significant the impact will be in the long term. Because even despite the fantastic efforts of parents, teachers and pupils, learning virtually just isn't the same as being in a classroom. The Institute for Fiscal Studies predicted that current learners are likely to earn less, and estimated that this difference could be up to £40,000. This lost learning across the 66 days has resulted in long-term prospects of children being affected significantly. They've also predicted that the financial cost of students in Wales sufficiently catching up with the schooling they've missed would be around £1.4 billion, but even then, that would likely result in students being overburdened with work and necessary pressure to catch up on the skills and work that they had not the chance to learn in the first instance. Now, frankly, you can't put a price on the influence of a good teacher in the classroom and the ways in which they can not only educate, but shape a life and a future in a way that just isn't possible over Zoom. And while most parents have stepped up to the plate in helping their children as best as they can to make sure they're not losing out by not being in school, the reality is that these are the same people that are very often dealing with a number of other changes and challenges in their professional life and their societal and family commitments as a result of the wider impacts of COVID. Even though many parents and carers did manage to juggle working from home with childcare and education that would have otherwise been provided by schools prior to the pandemic, not all young learners were that lucky. And these were often the same learners who perhaps would benefit most from a regular school day and the influence of a good teacher. But it isn't just learning the societal skills that we have. The schools are often the only places where young people engage in sport and exercise. We've discussed a number of times in the Siambr the benefits of sport and exercise, both for physical and mental health, but also developmentally and the importance of things like team work and bonding. These are just some of the reasons why it's so important going forward. We need to ensure that we don't ever end up in a situation where schools are again forced to close because of COVID. Advances in treatments and the phenomenal UK-wide vaccine roll-out have mitigated the impact of COVID, and many teaching staff now just want to teach pupils in their classroom, because they too realise the impact that school closures have had. But also for our current generation, for the pupils that have already been affected, we simply can't afford a generation of COVID children whose education has been significantly impacted by the pressures of coronavirus. That's why we need a plan from the Welsh Government to take action to overcome the impact the pandemic has already had on Welsh learners, and that's why I'm asking Members from across the Chamber to back our motion today.
Welsh: Gobeithio nad oes ots gennych os dechreuaf fy nghyfraniad drwy ddiolch i'r Aelodau o bob rhan o'r Siambr am eu geiriau caredig a'u dymuniadau da yn ystod fy arhosiad yn yr ysbyty yn ddiweddar. Roedd yn golygu llawer i mi, ac mae'n dda iawn bod yn ôl heddiw. Mae hefyd yn dda bod yn ôl i gymryd rhan yn nadl y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig heddiw ar effaith COVID ar addysg. Mae rhieni, disgyblion, ac yn arbennig, staff addysgu wedi ymateb yn wych i'r her o weithio'n wahanol a chystadlu â rheolau a rheoliadau sy'n newid yn barhaus i daro'r cydbwysedd anodd rhwng darparu addysg ragorol a chadw eu hunain ac eraill yn ddiogel. Ac mae cymunedau wedi gwneud hynny hefyd. A hoffwn achub ar y cyfle i ganmol gwaith gwirfoddolwyr lleol a grwpiau cymunedol yn helpu ar fyr rybudd pan darodd y pandemig gyntaf i sicrhau bod dysgu rhithwir yn mynd rhagddo. Enghraifft allweddol fyddai grŵp gweithredu COVID-19 Porthcawl yn fy rhanbarth i a gasglodd gyfrifiaduron a gliniaduron a'u rhoi i ddisgyblion oedran ysgol a fyddai wedi methu cael mynediad at ddosbarthiadau ar-lein fel arall o bosibl. Felly, diolch yn fawr iddynt hwy ac i'r grwpiau eraill y gwn amdanynt ledled Cymru a helpodd i sicrhau bod pobl ifanc yn cael addysg, er gwaethaf y cyfyngiadau a gyflwynwyd yn sgil y pandemig. Ond hoffwn ganolbwyntio fy sylwadau heddiw ar effaith cau ysgolion. Oherwydd mae pob un ohonom yn ymwybodol o werth un diwrnod ysgol. Mae'r gwersi a ddysgir, boed ar y cwricwlwm ai peidio, yn amhrisiadwy ac yn ddigyffelyb, a'r llynedd yng Nghymru, fel y dywedodd Laura Anne Jones, collodd disgyblion 66 o'r dyddiau hynny oherwydd y mesurau COVID-19 a oedd ar waith yng Nghymru, sy'n fwy o amser wedi'i golli o'r ystafell ddosbarth nag unrhyw ran arall o'r DU. Ac fel y dywedasom yn ein cynnig, mae Estyn wedi nodi'n glir fod hynny'n golygu bod sgiliau mathemateg, darllen, Cymraeg a chymdeithasol dysgwyr oll wedi dioddef o ganlyniad i gau ysgolion. Ond y gwir amdani yw nad ydym yn gwybod eto pa mor sylweddol fydd yr effaith yn hirdymor. Oherwydd er gwaethaf ymdrechion gwych rhieni, athrawon a disgyblion, nid yw dysgu rhithwir yr un peth â bod mewn ystafell ddosbarth. Rhagwelodd y Sefydliad Astudiaethau Cyllid y byddai dysgwyr presennol yn debygol o ennill llai o gyflog, gan amcangyfrif y gallai'r gwahaniaeth fod cymaint â £40,000. Mae'r dysgu coll hwn ar draws y 66 diwrnod wedi arwain at effaith sylweddol ar ragolygon hirdymor plant. Maent hefyd wedi rhagweld y byddai'r gost ariannol o sicrhau bod myfyrwyr yng Nghymru yn dal i fyny'n ddigonol â'r addysg y maent wedi'i cholli oddeutu £1.4 biliwn, ond hyd yn oed wedyn, mae'n debygol y byddai hynny'n arwain at fyfyrwyr yn cael eu gorlwytho â gwaith a'r pwysau angenrheidiol i ddal i fyny â'r sgiliau a gwaith na chawsant gyfle i'w dysgu yn y lle cyntaf. Nawr, ni allwch roi pris ar ddylanwad athro da yn yr ystafell ddosbarth a'r ffyrdd y gallant nid yn unig addysgu, ond siapio bywyd a dyfodol mewn ffordd nad yw'n bosibl dros Zoom. Ac er bod y rhan fwyaf o rieni wedi camu i'r adwy drwy helpu eu plant cystal ag y gallant i sicrhau nad ydynt ar eu colled drwy beidio â bod yn yr ysgol, y gwir amdani yw mai dyma'r un bobl sy'n aml iawn yn ymdopi â nifer o newidiadau a heriau eraill yn eu bywyd proffesiynol a'u hymrwymiadau cymdeithasol a theuluol o ganlyniad i effeithiau ehangach COVID. Er bod llawer o rieni a gofalwyr wedi llwyddo i gydbwyso gweithio gartref gyda gofal plant ac addysg a fyddai fel arall wedi cael ei ddarparu gan ysgolion cyn y pandemig, nid oedd pob dysgwr ifanc mor ffodus â hynny. Ac yn aml, y dysgwyr hynny a fyddai'n elwa fwyaf o ddiwrnod ysgol rheolaidd a dylanwad athro da. Ond mae'n ymwneud â mwy na dysgu'r sgiliau cymdeithasol. Yn aml, ysgolion yw'r unig fannau lle mae pobl ifanc yn cymryd rhan mewn chwaraeon ac ymarfer corff. Rydym wedi trafod manteision chwaraeon ac ymarfer corff sawl gwaith yn y Siambr, o ran iechyd corfforol a meddyliol, ond hefyd o ran datblygiad a phwysigrwydd pethau fel gwaith tîm a bondio. Dyma rai yn unig o'r rhesymau pam fod hyn mor bwysig wrth symud ymlaen. Mae angen inni sicrhau nad ydym byth yn cyrraedd sefyllfa lle caiff ysgolion eu gorfodi eto i gau oherwydd COVID. Mae datblygiadau mewn triniaethau a'r gwaith aruthrol o gyflwyno brechlynnau ledled y DU wedi lliniaru effaith COVID, ac mae llawer o staff addysgu bellach yn dymuno addysgu disgyblion yn eu hystafell ddosbarth, gan eu bod hwythau hefyd yn sylweddoli faint o effaith y mae cau ysgolion wedi'i chael. Ond hefyd i'n cenhedlaeth bresennol, i'r disgyblion sydd eisoes wedi'u heffeithio, ni allwn fforddio cael cenhedlaeth o blant COVID y mae eu haddysg wedi'i heffeithio'n sylweddol gan bwysau'r coronafeirws. Dyna pam fod arnom angen cynllun gan Lywodraeth Cymru i gymryd camau i fynd i'r afael â'r effaith y mae'r pandemig eisoes wedi'i chael ar ddysgwyr Cymru, a dyna pam fy mod yn gofyn i Aelodau o bob rhan o'r Siambr gefnogi ein cynnig heddiw.