English: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm very pleased to open this debate today on the Children, Young People and Education Committee's report into the status of the Welsh baccalaureate qualification. Concerns about the Welsh bac have, over a number of years and all too often, been appearing in the news and in our constituency and committee inboxes alike - concerns about universities choosing not to accept the qualification, about its impact on learner choice and success in other subject areas, concerns about teachers feeling ill-prepared to deliver the qualification. As a parent of a young person who is going through the Welsh bac, I get told first hand and very regularly about some of the difficulties being faced by our young people. The weight of concerns being raised set alarm bells ringing for us as a committee. We therefore wanted to undertake this inquiry and hear directly from those on the front line - pupils, parents, teachers, employers and universities - about their experiences of the Welsh bac to establish how widespread the challenges being raised with us are. The committee's report makes 10 recommendations. I don't intend to go through each of those recommendations today. I will instead outline some of the main concerns raised throughout the inquiry. The committee very much welcomes the response from the Minister, which accepts all bar one of the recommendations that we have made for the Government, with one recommendation accepted in principle. We also welcome the response from Qualifications Wales, which was very positive about the work the committee has undertaken and provides a clear commitment to evolving the Welsh bac so that it secures the best possible benefit to our young people. Our inquiry showed there are clear concerns about the Welsh baccalaureate. However, it is worth outlining that, despite initial doubts held by the committee, the evidence we gathered showed clear merit to studying the Welsh bac.
Welsh: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Rwy'n falch iawn o agor y ddadl hon heddiw ar adroddiad y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg ar statws cymhwyster bagloriaeth Cymru. Dros nifer o flynyddoedd ac yn rhy aml, mae pryderon ynglŷn â bagloriaeth Cymru wedi bod yn codi yn y newyddion ac ym mewnflychau ein hetholaethau a'n pwyllgorau fel ei gilydd - pryderon ynglŷn â phrifysgolion yn dewis peidio â derbyn y cymhwyster, ynglŷn â'i effaith ar ddewis dysgwyr a'u llwyddiant mewn meysydd pwnc eraill, pryderon nad yw athrawon yn teimlo'n barod i gyflwyno'r cymhwyster. Fel rhiant i unigolyn ifanc sy'n mynd drwy fagloriaeth Cymru, dywedir wrthyf yn uniongyrchol ac yn rheolaidd iawn am rai o'r anawsterau sy'n wynebu ein pobl ifanc. Roedd nifer y pryderon a gâi eu codi yn peri pryder i ni fel pwyllgor. Felly, roeddem am gynnal yr ymchwiliad hwn a chlywed yn uniongyrchol gan y rheini ar y rheng flaen - disgyblion, rhieni, athrawon, cyflogwyr a phrifysgolion - am eu profiadau o fagloriaeth Cymru i ganfod pa mor gyffredin yw'r heriau sy'n cael eu dwyn i'n sylw. Mae adroddiad y pwyllgor yn gwneud 10 argymhelliad. Nid wyf yn bwriadu mynd drwy bob un o'r argymhellion hynny heddiw. Yn lle hynny, rwyf am amlinellu rhai o'r prif bryderon a godwyd drwy gydol yr ymchwiliad. Mae'r pwyllgor yn croesawu'r ymateb gan y Gweinidog, sy'n derbyn pob un ond un o'r argymhellion a wnaethom i'r Llywodraeth, gydag un argymhelliad wedi'i dderbyn mewn egwyddor. Rydym hefyd yn croesawu'r ymateb gan Cymwysterau Cymru, a oedd yn gadarnhaol iawn am y gwaith y mae'r pwyllgor wedi'i wneud ac sy'n darparu ymrwymiad clir i ddatblygu bagloriaeth Cymru fel ei fod yn darparu'r budd gorau posibl i'n pobl ifanc. Dangosodd ein hymchwiliad fod yna bryderon clir ynglŷn â bagloriaeth Cymru. Fodd bynnag, mae'n werth nodi, er gwaethaf amheuon cychwynnol y pwyllgor, fod y dystiolaeth a gasglwyd gennym yn dangos y budd amlwg a geir o astudio bagloriaeth Cymru.