English: First of all, I would like to praise our teachers and the staff in our schools for their ongoing commitment to the increasingly difficult task of teaching our pupils. They work under very specific limitations in terms of a lack of resource and funding and far too much intervention in their day-to-day activities. The profession is under huge pressure at the moment, and we need to thank them for continuing to try and inspire our children and young people in the classroom, which is, after all, their main task, but the context is a challenging one. The serious funding crisis facing schools across Wales is having a detrimental impact on the education of our young people, and this is highlighted in the report 'Cut to the Bone?': £324 less is spent in real terms per pupil as compared to nine years ago, and, according to the Government itself, two fifths of schools in Wales are in deficit in terms of their budgets. The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers quotes data on the number of teachers, noting that there's been a reduction of 1,416, namely 5.6 per cent in the number of teachers, and often these are experienced teachers who have left the profession prematurely as a result of cuts. We know that the cake is getting smaller as a result of Tory austerity policies, and it's interesting to note, therefore, that the motion before us today does detail one specific aspect of school funding. Plaid Cymru does agree that there is a lack of transparency and some confusion regarding the formula, and we also agree that we need to look at the efficiency of all the funding streams for schools and perhaps we need to create a single funding stream and to agree as to how we assess success. What is disappointing is that the Government, through its amendment, seem to think that everything is fine. Well, I can tell you that everything is not fine. We know that the problem starts with the Conservatives in London and the ideological attempt to undermine our public services through their austerity policies. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Tories in Wales actually look at the minutiae, ignoring the elephant in the room, namely that the public funding pot generally is getting smaller and that we need to invest rather than cut our public services. But I would also argue that, yes, the cake needs to be bigger in the first place, but we also need to portion it in a way that accords better with some of the Government's main strategies in Wales. The preventative services aren't given a sufficient share of Government funding, and what better example of a preventative service than education? We need to look in a far more holistic manner at the budget as a whole and to move away from these crude allocations. We need more appropriate funding for services that prevent problems from developing. And what about the slice of the cake actually provided for education? Is there enough of that going to our schools, and what can be done to ensure that the funding is spent appropriately? I do very much hope that the work of the Children, Young People and Education Committee can feed into that discussion. The job of this Government is to look long and hard at the evidence, to come to conclusions, and to take action as a result. The amendments, such as the one tabled today, do nothing to help anyone. We need to listen to what the profession is telling us. There are some who are asking whether the consortia are absorbing too much of the funds, whether there is duplication of services across the various layers involved. Do we need three-year budgeting? There is concern that funding provided through grants can vary from year to year and create uncertainty and create a patchy approach that doesn't reflect the local priorities on all occasions, that there's a bureaucratic burden and that far too large a proportion of them is used for tracking and monitoring and so on and so forth. I could expand on those specific issues that need to be addressed, and I look forward to contributing to the work of the committee in contributing to those efforts. The view that 'everything in the garden is rosy' doesn't strike a chord, and it's another case of this Government burying its head in the sand whilst our schools are creaking and our young people are being let down.
Welsh: Yn y lle cyntaf, fe hoffwn i ganmol ein hathrawon a'r staff yn ein hysgolion am eu hymroddiad parhaus i'r dasg gynyddol anodd o ddysgu ein disgyblion. Maen nhw'n gweithio o dan gyfyngiadau penodol o ddiffyg adnoddau a chyllid i lawer gormod o ymyrryd yn eu gwaith bob dydd. Mae'r proffesiwn dan bwysau aruthrol ar hyn o bryd, ac mae angen dweud 'diolch' iddyn nhw am barhau i geisio ysbrydoli ein plant a'n pobl ifanc ar lawr y dosbarth, sef eu priod waith ar ddiwedd y dydd. Ond mae'r cyd-destun yn un heriol. Mae argyfwng cyllid difrifol yn wynebu ysgolion ar draws Cymru sy'n cael effaith andwyol ar addysg ein pobol ifanc. Mae hyn yn cael ei danlinellu yn yr adroddiad 'Cut to the Bone?'. Mae £324 yn llai yn cael ei wario mewn termau real yn ôl y disgybl o'i gymharu â naw mlynedd yn ôl. Yn ôl y Llywodraeth ei hun, mae yna ddiffyg yng nghyllideb dwy o bob pump ysgol. Mae Cymdeithas Genedlaethol yr Ysgolfeistri ac Undeb yr Athrawesau yn dyfynnu data ar niferoedd athrawon gan nodi bod gostyngiad o 1,416, sef 5.6 y cant, yn nifer athrawon, ac yn aml, mae'r rhain yn athrawon profiadol sydd wedi gadael yn gynamserol yn ystod y broses o gyflawni toriadau. Dŷn ni'n gwybod bod y gacen yn lleihau yn sgil polisïau llymder y Torïaid. Mae'n ddiddorol nodi, felly, fod y cynnig sydd gerbron heddiw yn manylu am un agwedd benodol o gyllido ysgolion. Mae Plaid Cymru yn cytuno bod yna ddiffyg tryloywder a dryswch am y fformiwla, a dŷn ni'n cytuno hefyd fod angen edrych ar effeithiolrwydd yr holl ffrydiau ariannu ysgolion ac, efallai, angen creu un ffrwd ariannu a chytuno ar sut i fesur llwyddiant. Beth sy'n siomedig yw bod y Llywodraeth, drwy ei gwelliant, yn meddwl bod popeth yn iawn. Wel, mi ddywedaf i wrthych chi dydy popeth ddim yn iawn. Dŷn ni'n gwybod bod y broblem yn cychwyn efo'r Torïaid yn Llundain a'r ymgyrch ideolegol i danseilio ein gwasanaethau cyhoeddus drwy eu polisïau llymder nhw. Does dim rhyfedd, felly, bod y Torïaid yng Nghymru yn mynd at y glo mân, gan anwybyddu'r eliffant yn yr ystafell, sef bod y pot arian cyhoeddus yn gyffredinol yn crebachu, a bod angen buddsoddi, nid torri, ar ein gwasanaethau cyhoeddus. Ond mi fuaswn i'n dadlau hefyd: oes, mae angen i'r gacen gyhoeddus fod yn fwy yn y lle cyntaf, ond mae angen iddi hefyd gael ei thorri mewn ffordd sydd yn cyd-fynd yn well efo rhai o brif strategaethau'r Llywodraeth yng Nghymru. Dydy'r gwasanaethau ataliol ddim yn cael eu siâr ddigonol o gyllideb y Llywodraeth, a pha well enghraifft o wasanaeth ataliol nag addysg? Mae angen edrych yn llawer mwy holistaidd ar y gyllideb yn ei chrynswth a symud i ffordd o raniadau amrwd. Mae angen ariannu gwasanaethau sy'n atal problemau rhag datblygu mewn ffordd mwy priodol. A beth am y sleisen o'r gacen sy'n mynd at addysg? Oes digon o'r sleisen addysg yn mynd at ein hysgolion, a beth a fedrid ei wneud i sicrhau bod yr arian yn cael ei wario yn briodol? Dwi yn gobeithio y bydd gwaith y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobol Ifanc ac Addysg yn bwydo i'r drafodaeth honno. Gwaith y Llywodraeth yma ydy edrych yn hir a chaled ar y dystiolaeth a dod i gasgliadau a gweithredu yn ôl hynny. Dydy'r gwelliant, fel yr un sydd gerbron heddiw, yn helpu dim ar neb. Mae angen gwrando ar beth mae'r proffesiwn yn ei ddweud wrthym ni. Mae yna rai yn gofyn a ydy'r consortia yn sugno gormod o arian, a oes yna ddyblygu gwasanaethau ar draws yr amryfal haenau. Oes angen cyllidebau tair blynedd? Mae yna bryder bod cyllid drwy grantiau yn amrywio o flwyddyn i flwyddyn yn creu ansicrwydd, yn arwain at ddull tameidiog, yn peidio ag adlewyrchu blaenoriaethau lleol bob amser. Maen nhw'n faich biwrocrataidd, a bod canran rhy uchel ohonyn nhw'n cael eu defnyddio ar gyfer tracio a monitro ac ati, ac ati. Mi allaf i ymhelaethu ar y materion penodol yna sydd angen sylw, a dwi'n edrych ymlaen at gyfrannu at waith y pwyllgor i gyfrannu tuag at hynny i gyd. Dydy'r safbwynt o 'mae popeth yn iawn' ddim yn taro deuddeg, ac mae yn achos arall o'r Llywodraeth yma'n claddu ei phen yn y tywod tra bod ein hysgolion ni'n gwegian a'n pobl ifanc ni'n cael eu gadael i lawr.