English: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement this afternoon. There is a great deal that I'd be happy to support. Of course, Plaid Cymru has welcomed the Furlong report and the recommendations therein, and the Plaid Cymru manifesto for the recent elections did outline some of the specific aspects of what we believe is needed to strengthen initial teacher education and continuous professional development. I assume that you are not veering from the views taken by the previous Government, which accepted all of the recommendations of the Furlong report. Your predecessor also said, of course, that we needed to move at a pace in terms of changes to initial teacher training, and the consultation that you referred to, which is to start next week, is one, as I understand it, the sector has been expecting since January. So, I don't know if that actually reflects the progress at pace that you mentioned in your statement. And of course you said that 'na allwn, ac na chawn, aros am newid'. Can you, therefore, expand on your own operational timetable as Cabinet Secretary? You've mentioned 2018 as a key milestone, but I would like to hear what the milestones towards that are in terms of the consultation programme that you referred to. That would be most beneficial. Now, the proposed consultation makes reference to developing one specific aspect of the Education Workforce Council in Wales. Plaid Cymru, of course, has called for broader reform of that council in our manifesto so that it becomes a self-regulatory professional body that's responsible for teaching standards and continuous professional development. You state that you would expect partnerships between schools and universities to mature. You expect early in the new year for them to state their intention to be accredited in new programmes, therefore could you tell us what you will do if that isn't the case? I know that your predecessor had been a little impatient, perhaps, in terms of moving in that direction, and I would like to know what steps you would take as a Government if that weren't to happen. We all, of course, want teaching to be a first-choice profession. I think everyone would agree on that. But I have to ask myself these days - who, in reality, is promoting teaching as a career? We know that the number of registered teachers is falling by some hundreds per annum. We are training around half of the teachers every year that we did, in comparison, in 2006. Would you agree with me that there's a job of work to be done, which isn't happening effectively enough now, in terms of promoting a career in teaching - not just in terms of numbers, of course, but in terms of attracting the highest quality candidates? That is certainly something that Furlong referred to, and the OECD, Estyn and others have expressed their concern on that issue. Plaid Cymru, of course, in our manifesto, did propose a 10 per cent premium on the salaries of those teachers who had reached a particular level of professional development. Certainly, that would contribute towards raising standards, in my view, but would also be a tool to attract and retain the highest quality candidates to enter teaching. Would you be willing to consider such a premium, because I do note that, in the programme for government published today, the Government does want to recognise, promote and encourage excellence in education? If you're going to do that, perhaps you could do that through the use of such a premium. I'd be grateful if you could consider that. A reduction in bureaucracy, of course, is also very important in my view, because that's one of the most negative aspects when it comes to trying to attract people to the teaching profession. With all that in mind, of course, in terms of attracting the highest quality candidates, perhaps you could tell us what role you see for Teach First and the graduate teacher programme, because they have a role in the current training landscape, and are funded through Government. Is that going to continue in the longer term? Where is the matching ambition, from the point of view of Government, in relation to teaching support staff, because we do have to strengthen the quality across the profession, in all aspects of education? You've also previously mentioned - and I will finish with this point - the development of a workforce and leadership strategy. You made a statement prior to the summer to that end. You said then that that would strengthen the focus on areas such as developing new professional learning standards and the move towards a Master's teaching profession and so on. So, how will your announcement today and that strategy actually intertwine? I can hear some people now saying, perhaps, that you are asking questions of the sector in your statement here, and in the forthcoming consultation, without us actually seeing the vision and the broader strategy, which are yet to be outlined.
Welsh: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd, a diolch i chi, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, am eich datganiad y prynhawn yma. Mae yna lawer ynddo fe y byddwn i'n hapus iawn i'w gefnogi. Wrth gwrs, mae Plaid Cymru wedi croesawu adroddiad Furlong a'i argymhellion, ac mi oedd maniffesto Plaid Cymru ar gyfer yr etholiadau diweddar yn amlinellu rhai o agweddau penodol yr hyn rŷm ni'n credu sydd ei angen i gryfhau addysg gychwynnol i athrawon a datblygu proffesiynol parhaus. Rwy'n cymryd nad ydych chi'n gwyro o agwedd y Llywodraeth flaenorol a dderbyniodd holl argymhellion Furlong hefyd. Mi oedd eich rhagflaenydd chi hefyd, wrth gwrs, yn dweud bod angen cyflymu newidiadau i addysg gychwynnol i athrawon, ac mae'r ymgynghoriad yr ydych chi'n cyfeirio ato fe, a fydd yn cychwyn yr wythnos nesaf yn un, rwy'n deall, y mae'r sector wedi bod yn disgwyl amdano fe ers mis Ionawr. Felly, nid wyf yn siŵr a yw hynny'n adlewyrchu'r 'progress at pace' rŷch chi'n sôn amdano fe yn eich datganiad. Ac wrth gwrs rŷch chi'n dweud: 'change can not and must not wait'. A allwch chi, felly, ehangu ychydig ar eich amserlen weithredu chi fel Gweinidog Cabinet? Rŷch chi wedi cyfeirio at 2018 fel dyddiad allweddol, ond byddwn i'n licio clywed, efallai, beth yw rhai o'r cerrig milltir o safbwynt y broses ymgynghori ac yn y blaen rŷch chi wedi cyfeirio ati. Mi fyddai hynny yn fuddiol iawn. Nawr, mae'r ymgynghoriad arfaethedig yn cyfeirio at ddatblygu un agwedd benodol o waith y Cyngor Gweithlu Addysg yng Nghymru. Mae Plaid Cymru, wrth gwrs, wedi galw am ddiwygio ehangach y cyngor hwnnw yn ein maniffesto ni i un sydd yn gorff proffesiynol, hunanreoleiddiol sy'n gyfrifol am safonau dysgu a datblygu proffesiynol parhaus. Rŷch chi'n dweud y byddech chi'n disgwyl i bartneriaethau rhwng ysgolion a phrifysgolion aeddfedu. Rŷch chi'n disgwyl yn gynnar yn y flwyddyn newydd iddyn nhw ddatgan eu bwriad i gael eu hachredu â rhaglenni newydd, felly a allwch chi ddweud wrthym ni beth fyddwch chi'n ei wneud os na fyddan nhw? Rwy'n gwybod bod eich rhagflaenydd chi wedi bod yn ddiamynedd, efallai, ynglŷn â symud yn hynny o beth, a byddwn i'n licio gwybod, petai hynny ddim yn digwydd, pa gamau y byddwch chi fel Llywodraeth yn eu cymryd. Rŷm ni i gyd, wrth gwrs, am i ddysgu fod yn broffesiwn dewis cyntaf - byddai pawb yn cytuno, rwy'n siŵr, fan hyn â hynny. Ond mae'n rhaid i mi ofyn i'm hunan y dyddiau yma - pwy, mewn gwirionedd, sydd yn hyrwyddo dysgu fel gyrfa? Rŷm ni'n gwybod bod nifer yr athrawon cofrestredig yn disgyn o rai cannoedd bob blwyddyn. Rŷm yn hyfforddi tua hanner yr athrawon yn flynyddol ag yr oeddem yn eu hyfforddi yn 2006. Felly, a ydych chi'n cytuno â mi fod yna job o waith sydd angen ei wneud sydd ddim yn digwydd yn ddigon effeithiol ar hyn o bryd, o safbwynt hyrwyddo gyrfa mewn dysgu - nid jest o ran niferoedd, wrth gwrs, ond o ran denu ymgeiswyr o'r radd flaenaf? Yn sicr, mae hynny'n rhywbeth yr oedd Furlong yn cyfeirio ato fe, ac mae'r OECD, Estyn ac eraill, wrth gwrs, wedi mynegi gofid ynglŷn â hynny. Roedd Plaid Cymru, yn ein maniffesto ni, yn cynnig premiwm o 10 y cant ar gyflog athrawon a fyddai'n cyrraedd lefel penodol o ddatblygu proffesiynol. Yn sicr, mi fyddai hynny'n cyfrannu at godi safonau, yn fy marn i, ond hefyd yn arf i ddenu - ac i gadw - ymgeiswyr o'r radd uchaf i ddod i ddysgu. A fyddech chi'n barod i ystyried hynny, achos rwy'n nodi, yn y rhaglen llywodraethu sydd wedi ei chyhoeddi heddiw, fod y Llywodraeth eisiau cydnabod, hyrwyddo ac annog rhagoriaeth ym maes addysgu? Os ydych am gydnabod hynny, efallai bod modd gwneud hynny drwy gyfrwng premiwm o ryw fath. Byddwn i'n ddiolchgar petaech chi'n ystyried hynny. Mae lleihau biwrocratiaeth hefyd yn bwysig, yn fy marn i, oherwydd dyna un o'r agweddau mwyaf negyddol pan mae'n dod i geisio denu pobl i'r sector. Gyda hynny mewn golwg, wrth gwrs, o safbwynt denu ymgeiswyr o'r radd uchaf, efallai y gallech chi ddweud wrthym ni pa rôl rydych chi'n gweld 'Teach First' yn ei chwarae, a'r rhaglen athrawon graddedig, hefyd, oherwydd mae ganddynt rôl yn y dirwedd hyfforddi bresennol, ac yn cael arian gan y Llywodraeth hefyd. A ydy hynny am barhau yn yr hirdymor? Ble mae'r uchelgais cyfatebol, o safbwynt y Llywodraeth, mewn perthynas â staff dysgu cynorthwyol, oherwydd mae'n rhaid i ni gryfhau'r ansawdd ar draws y proffesiwn, ym mhob agwedd wrth gwrs? Rydych chi hefyd wedi sôn yn flaenorol - ac mi wnaf i orffen gyda hyn - am ddatblygu strategaeth gweithlu ac arweinyddiaeth. Gwnaethoch ddatganiad cyn yr haf i'r perwyl hwnnw. Roeddech chi'n dweud bryd hynny y byddai hynny'n cryfhau'r ffocws ar feysydd megis datblygu safonau dysgu proffesiynol newydd a chychwyn y symudiad at broffesiwn dysgu gradd Meistr, ac yn y blaen. Sut bydd yr hyn yr ydych yn ei gyhoeddi heddiw a'r strategaeth honno yn dod at ei gilydd? Gallaf glywed rhai, efallai, yn dweud nawr eich bod chi'n gofyn cwestiynau i'r sector nawr yn eich datganiad, ac yn yr ymgynghoriad sydd i ddod, heb, efallai, inni weld y weledigaeth a'r strategaeth ehangach hynny sydd eto i gael eu hamlinellu.