English: Thanks, Siân Gwenllian, for those questions. She began by saying that she believed that exams should have been scrapped at an earlier point. Well, the policy of Plaid Cymru is to get rid of exams, and that's a perfectly legitimate policy to have. It's not a policy I share; I believe exams are an important part of our education system. If I thought it was possible to run exams in a fair and equitable way, that's what I would've done this year. It's not an easy decision that we've made today to scrap them. So, I don't share her overall view with regard to exams, but it is clear to me that, in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, and with the ongoing uncertainty about what the public health situation may be as we move over the winter, exams in these circumstances cannot be delivered fairly or equitably, and I have made that decision as soon as I can. I daresay some people will criticise me and say that I should hang on and wait to see how the winter has been, but, if I had done that, that would have led to further - not confusion, but further anxiety as students and teachers tried to ride both horses, one horse thinking that the exam would happen and therefore cramming through content and getting ready for an exam, and another horse of continuous assessment and testing, not knowing from one lesson to another which piece of work would be the piece of work that would be looked at by, potentially, an external examiner. That is what is putting stress on our children and our teachers, and we've made a decision today to give absolute clarity, so that all of our time and attention can now turn to really positive teaching and learning experiences. With regard to vocational qualifications, I understand that the situation is difficult and different for those students, but, as I explained to Suzy Davies, I simply am not in a position to issue instructions to a different regulator, and therefore - . But I can give the assurance that we will be keeping, as with Qualifications Wales, in close touch with Ofqual to ensure that those students are not disadvantaged. With regard to what the Member described as 'tests', these are not tests and I think we do have to be really, really careful with our terminology here. These are assessments that will be provided to schools by the WJEC. And why is that? Well, there are two very important reasons. We've just heard from Suzy Davies about workload for teachers. Actually, having an outside body bringing that extra capacity and resource into the system means that they don't have to design these assessments. Somebody else will do that work for them. And that is one way in which we can take the burden off the teaching profession. The second is because then there is a national consistency that allows us to do moderation, because each child will have been asked to complete a similar task within that classroom setting. So, when it comes to moderation and ensuring that an A in Llandudno is exactly the same as an A score in Cardiff, then that can be done on the basis of exactly the same task that has been undertaken within the classroom, therefore ensuring that there is that national consistency. And secondly also ensuring that - . I'm sure the Member has read in great detail the analysis of qualifications work with regard to the equality impacts of CAGs, which is where we ended up last summer. They raised some very, very serious issues about equality issues, and therefore having some uniformity in this system ensures that those people that have concerns about unconscious bias et cetera - those concerns can be addressed. Also, it allows us to provide a route into the examination system for our independent candidates. Earlier on, Suzy Davies asked me for a statement - oh, sorry, it was Mike Hedges that asked for a statement - on home-schooled children. Now, last year we found it very, very difficult to be able to respond to independent candidates. Having nationally agreed, designed by our examination board tasks for children to sit gives us a route in for some of those independent candidates to be able to access a grade this year in a way that they can't do if they're not part of a formal assessment centre. So, this gives us an opportunity to address those students' needs as well, and we're trying to be fair to every learner that we have in our system at the moment. With regard to the number and the nature, then that will be a matter for the group. We could see - . Potentially, they could advise me that maybe the number of tasks will be different depending on the nature of the course of study. When talking to universities, for instance, they were very concerned with regard to maths and students that were wanting to go on to do a maths-related degree - ensuring that they had all the basic underpinnings to allow them to be successful in the next stage of their careers. Therefore, the group may recommend slightly different approaches, depending on subjects, but that is a matter for them, and it's very important to recognise that those matters will be addressed by headteachers and lecturers and college leaders who are on the front line and know how best we can do that fairly. I expect that work, as I said in my statement, to be completed by December, so we can begin the roll-out of this programme of work in January.
Welsh: Diolch, Siân Gwenllian, am y cwestiynau yna. Fe ddechreuodd drwy ddweud ei bod hi'n credu y dylid bod wedi diddymu'r arholiadau cyn hyn. Wel, polisi Plaid Cymru yw cael gwared ar arholiadau, ac mae hwnnw'n bolisi cwbl ddilys i'w gael. Nid yw'n bolisi yr wyf i'n cytuno ag ef; rwyf i o'r farn fod arholiadau yn rhan bwysig o'n system addysg ni. Pe bawn i'n credu bod modd cynnal arholiadau mewn ffordd deg a chyfartal, fe fyddwn i wedi eu cynnal nhw eleni. Nid penderfyniad hawdd i ni heddiw oedd eu diddymu nhw. Felly, nid wyf i o'r un farn gyffredinol â hi ynglŷn ag arholiadau, ond mae'n amlwg i mi, o dan ein hamgylchiadau presennol, a chyda'r ansicrwydd parhaus ynghylch beth allai'r sefyllfa fod o ran iechyd y cyhoedd dros y gaeaf, na ellir cyflwyno arholiadau mewn ffordd deg a chyfartal, ac rwyf wedi gwneud y penderfyniad hwn cyn gynted ag yr oeddwn i'n gallu gwneud felly. Mae'n gwbl bosibl y bydd rhai yn fy meirniadu i gan ddweud y dylwn i ddal fy ngafael ac aros i weld sut aeaf fydd hwn, ond, pe byddwn i wedi gwneud hynny, fe fyddai hynny wedi arwain at ragor - nid o ddryswch, ond rhagor o ofid wrth i fyfyrwyr ac athrawon geisio marchogaeth dau geffyl, gydag un ceffyl yn credu bod arholiad am ddigwydd ac felly'n dysgu'r holl ffeithiau ac yn paratoi am arholiad, a'r ceffyl arall yn asesu a phrofi'n barhaus, heb wybod o un wers i'r llall pa ddarn o waith fyddai'r darn o waith i'w ystyried gan arholwr allanol o bosibl. Dyna sy'n rhoi straen ar ein plant a'n hathrawon ni, ac rydym wedi gwneud penderfyniad heddiw i roi eglurder llwyr, fel y gall ein holl amser a'n sylw ni droi nawr at brofiadau addysgu a dysgu gwirioneddol gadarnhaol. O ran cymwysterau galwedigaethol, rwy'n deall bod y sefyllfa yn un anodd a gwahanol ar gyfer y myfyrwyr hynny, ond, fel yr oeddwn i'n egluro i Suzy Davies, nid wyf i mewn sefyllfa i roi cyfarwyddiadau i wahanol reoleiddiwr, ac felly - . Ond fe allaf i roi'r sicrwydd y byddwn ni'n cadw, fel gyda Cymwysterau Cymru, mewn cysylltiad agos gyda'r Swyddfa Rheoleiddio Cymwysterau ac Arholiadau i sicrhau nad yw'r myfyrwyr hynny o dan anfantais. O ran yr hyn a ddisgrifiodd yr Aelod yn 'brofion', nid profion yw'r rhain ac rwy'n credu y dylem ni fod yn ofalus iawn gyda'r derminoleg yn hyn o beth. Asesiadau yw'r rhain a ddarperir ar gyfer ysgolion gan CBAC. A pham hynny? Wel, mae yna ddau reswm pwysig iawn. Rydym newydd glywed gan Suzy Davies am bwysau gwaith ar athrawon. Mewn gwirionedd, mae cael corff allanol sy'n dod â'r capasiti a'r adnodd ychwanegol hwnnw i mewn i'r system yn golygu nad oes yn rhaid iddyn nhw gynllunio'r asesiadau hyn. Fe fydd rhywun arall yn gwneud y gwaith hwnnw drostyn nhw. Ac mae honno'n un ffordd o dynnu'r baich oddi ar y proffesiwn addysgu. Yr ail reswm yw bod cysondeb cenedlaethol ar gael wedyn sy'n ein galluogi ni i gymedroli, oherwydd fe ofynnir i bob plentyn gwblhau tasg gymharol yn yr un modd yn y stafell ddosbarth honno. Felly, o ystyried cymedroli a sicrhau bod sgôr o A yn Llandudno yn gwbl gyfystyr â sgôr A yng Nghaerdydd, yna fe ellir gwneud hynny ar sail yr un dasg yn union sy'n cael ei chyflawni o fewn y dosbarth, gan sicrhau'r cysondeb cenedlaethol hwnnw. Ac yn ail hefyd sicrhau bod - . Rwy'n siŵr bod yr Aelod wedi darllen yn fanwl trwy'r dadansoddiad o waith ynglŷn â chymwysterau o ran effeithiau graddau a asesir mewn canolfannau ar gydraddoldeb, sef pen ein taith ni'r haf diwethaf. Roedden nhw'n codi rhai materion difrifol iawn ynglŷn â materion cydraddoldeb, ac felly mae cael rhywfaint o unffurfiaeth yn y system hon yn sicrhau bod y bobl hynny sydd â phryderon am ragfarn anymwybodol ac ati - fe ellir mynd i'r afael â'r pryderon hynny. Hefyd, mae hyn yn caniatáu inni gael llwybr i'r system arholi ar gyfer ein harholwyr annibynnol ni. Yn gynharach, fe ofynnodd Suzy Davies imi am ddatganiad - o, mae'n ddrwg gen i, Mike Hedges oedd yn gofyn am ddatganiad - am blant sy'n cael eu haddysg yn y cartref. Nawr, y llynedd, roedd hi'n anodd iawn gallu ymateb i ymgeiswyr annibynnol. Ar ôl cytuno'n genedlaethol ar dasgau a gynlluniwyd gan ein bwrdd arholi ni i blant eu cyflawni, mae hynny'n cynnig llwybr inni ar gyfer rhai o'r ymgeiswyr annibynnol hynny i allu ennill gradd eleni mewn ffordd nad oedd yn bosibl iddyn nhw heb fod yn rhan o ganolfan asesu ffurfiol. Felly, mae hyn yn gyfle inni fynd i'r afael ag anghenion y myfyrwyr hynny hefyd, ac rydym yn ceisio gwneud cyfiawnder â phob dysgwr sydd gennym yn ein system ar hyn o bryd. O ran eu nifer a'u natur nhw, mater i'r grŵp fydd hynny. Fe allem ni weld - . Fe allen nhw fy nghynghori i y bydd nifer y tasgau yn amrywio yn ôl natur y cwrs a astudir. Wrth siarad â phrifysgolion, er enghraifft, roedden nhw'n pryderu llawer am fathemateg a myfyrwyr a oedd yn awyddus i fynd ymlaen i astudio am radd sy'n gysylltiedig â mathemateg - ac am sicrhau bod yr holl sail sylfaenol yn cael ei gosod i ganiatáu iddyn nhw allu llwyddo yng ngham nesaf eu gyrfaoedd nhw. Felly, efallai y bydd y grŵp yn argymell dulliau ychydig yn wahanol, yn ôl y pynciau, ond mater iddyn nhw yw hynny, ac mae'n bwysig iawn cydnabod y bydd penaethiaid a darlithwyr ac arweinwyr colegau sydd ar y rheng flaen yn mynd i'r afael â'r materion hynny ac fe fydd y ffordd orau o wneud hynny mewn ffordd deg yn hysbys iddyn nhw. Rwy'n disgwyl y bydd y gwaith hwnnw, fel y dywedais i yn fy natganiad, wedi ei gwblhau erbyn mis Rhagfyr, ac felly fe allwn ni ddechrau cyflwyno'r rhaglen waith hon ym mis Ionawr.