English: Last week the First Minister said this: 'I want very strongly to endorse today the joint statement made between the Welsh Government and the Welsh Local Government Association, which urges schools to remain open until the last day of term, while recognising that there will be individual sets of circumstances where that will not be possibleThe real problem is that we do not have confidence, from the behavioural evidence, that if children are not in school, that they would simply be being kept at home and kept away from the contacts that would otherwise create greater risk. The fear is that children who are not in school will be in even riskier environments.' 'If I thought that those young people would genuinely be at home, genuinely self-isolating, genuinely creating that period before Christmas to keep them safe, I'd be attracted to the idea. I'm afraid the risks are that that simply wouldn't happen, that those children would be doing riskier things than they would in school. Better for them to be in school.' In saying this, the First Minister and the WLGA support the long-held views of the children's commissioner and, indeed, this Senedd - better for them to be in school. Even in the firebreak, schools were open for children up to year 8. Now, I will recognise that incidence and transmission rates in parts of Wales are very worrying and that figures associated with some secondary schools are also worrying. But 'associated with' and 'responsible for' are different things, and we have not yet seen published evidence that says that they are the same thing. I'm yet to see the evidence that says that the risk within - and I mean within - the confines of secondary schools justifies their blanket closure. Indeed, we've seen the introduction of mandatory face coverings on every part of the estate, except classrooms, to minimise that risk further. The health board briefings refer to behaviour outside the school gate, and, as we've heard in this Chamber, and, indeed, the Minister's opening remarks, that it's between households that presents more of a problem. And now secondary pupils will be at a greater temptation to do, as the First Minister said, those riskier things than they would have in school, not least because many of them will be old enough to be unsupervised at home. But, for those younger secondary school pupils who really shouldn't be at home alone, the chances that their working parents won't be able to take time off to provide that care is real, because they are no longer considered key workers, and I'd be keen to understand, from the Minister, why that's the case. I'm also unhappy about these regulations because they fail to compel primary schools to stay open. I understand that the legal default position, if you like, is that they should stay open anyway, but the regulations are quite plain as to the consequences of secondary schools disobeying the law. So, why not the same for primary schools in regulations? Because instead, we have local authorities flouting, once again, the education Minister's authority. Now, I absolutely understand the need for the teaching unions to consider the safety and the working conditions for their members - of course I do - but I hope they understand that they have overplayed their hands on this one. The local authorities themselves also need to be in the spotlight, because where's their backbone on this? Rolling over the Minister yet again, what do they think this does to her authority, especially when they, through the WLGA, just a week ago, urged the very opposite of what they're doing now? Minister, we have different views on a lot of things, but this lack of respect for your office should concern all of us, because this has now happened twice on the issue of school closures, and it's almost as if the local authorities are goading us into taking away their responsibility for education. In the meantime, I really would like to thank pupils, parents and school staff for their continued hard work in all this confusion, and wish them a merry and hopefully peaceful Christmas. Thank you.
Welsh: Yr wythnos diwethaf dywedodd y Prif Weinidog: 'yr wyf i eisiau cymeradwyo yn gryf iawn heddiw y datganiad ar y cyd a wnaed rhwng Llywodraeth Cymru a Chymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru, sy'n annog ysgolion i aros ar agor tan ddiwrnod olaf y tymor, gan gydnabod y bydd cyfresi unigol o amgylchiadau lle na fydd hynny'n bosibl Y broblem wirioneddol yw nad oes gennym ni ffydd, o'r dystiolaeth ymddygiadol, os nad yw plant yn yr ysgol, y bydden nhw'n cael eu cadw gartref a'u cadw i ffwrdd o'r cysylltiadau a fyddai fel arall yn creu mwy o risg. Yr ofn yw y bydd plant nad ydyn nhw yn yr ysgol mewn amgylcheddau mwy peryglus fyth.' 'Pe byddwn i'n meddwl y byddai'r bobl ifanc hynny wir yn aros gartref, wir yn hunanynysu, wir yn creu'r cyfnod hwnnw cyn y Nadolig i'w cadw'n ddiogel, byddwn i'n cael fy nenu at y syniad. Rwy'n ofni mai'r risgiau yw na fyddai hynny yn digwydd, y byddai'r plant hynny yn gwneud pethau mwy peryglus nag y bydden nhw yn yr ysgol. Mae'n well iddyn nhw fod yn yr ysgol.' Wrth ddweud hyn, mae'r Prif Weinidog a Chymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru yn cefnogi'r hyn a fu yn farn y comisiynydd plant ac, yn wir, y Senedd hon, ers cryn amser - gwell iddyn nhw fod yn yr ysgol. Hyd yn oed yn y cyfnod atal byr, roedd ysgolion ar agor i blant hyd at flwyddyn 8. Nawr, rwy'n cydnabod bod cyfraddau achosion a throsglwyddo mewn rhannau o Gymru yn peri pryder mawr a bod ffigurau sy'n gysylltiedig â rhai ysgolion uwchradd hefyd yn peri pryder. Ond mae 'cysylltiedig â' a 'chyfrifol am' yn bethau gwahanol, ac nid ydym ni eto wedi gweld tystiolaeth gyhoeddedig sy'n dweud eu bod yr un peth. Nid wyf eto wedi gweld y dystiolaeth sy'n dweud bod y risg o fewn - ac rwyf yn golygu o fewn - terfynau ysgolion uwchradd yn cyfiawnhau eu cau i gyd. Yn wir, rydym ni wedi gweld cyflwyno gorchuddion wyneb gorfodol ym mhob rhan o'r ysgol, ac eithrio ystafelloedd dosbarth, i leihau'r risg honno ymhellach. Mae briffiau'r byrddau iechyd yn cyfeirio at ymddygiad y tu allan i giât yr ysgol, ac, fel y clywsom ni yn y Siambr hon, ac, yn wir, yn sylwadau agoriadol y Gweinidog, mai trosglwyddo rhwng aelwydydd sy'n cyflwyno mwy o broblem. A nawr bydd disgyblion uwchradd yn wynebu mwy o demtasiwn, fel y dywedodd y Prif Weinidog, i wneud y pethau mwy peryglus hynny na fydden nhw wedi eu gwneud yn yr ysgol, yn bennaf oherwydd y bydd llawer ohonyn nhw yn ddigon hen i fod heb oruchwyliaeth gartref. Ond, i'r disgyblion ysgol uwchradd iau hynny na ddylen nhw fod gartref ar eu pennau eu hunain, mae'r posibilrwydd na fydd eu rhieni sy'n gweithio yn gallu cymryd amser o'u gwaith i ddarparu'r gofal hwnnw'n un gwirioneddol, gan na chânt bellach eu hystyried yn weithwyr allweddol, a byddwn yn awyddus i ddeall, gan y Gweinidog, pam y mae hynny'n wir. Rwyf hefyd yn anhapus ynglŷn â'r rheoliadau hyn oherwydd nad ydyn nhw'n cymell ysgolion cynradd i aros ar agor. Deallaf mai'r sefyllfa ddiofyn gyfreithiol, os mynnwch chi, yw y dylen nhw aros ar agor beth bynnag, ond mae'r rheoliadau'n eithaf clir o ran canlyniadau ysgolion uwchradd yn anufuddhau i'r gyfraith. Felly, pam nad yw'r un peth yn wir ar gyfer rheoliadau ysgolion cynradd? Oherwydd yn lle hynny, mae gennym ni awdurdodau lleol sy'n diystyru, unwaith eto, awdurdod y Gweinidog addysg. Nawr, rwy'n deall yn llwyr yr angen i undebau'r athrawon ystyried diogelwch ac amodau gwaith eu haelodau - wrth gwrs fy mod i - ond gobeithiaf eu bod yn deall eu bod wedi mynd yn rhy bell yn hyn o beth. Mae angen dal sylw ar yr awdurdodau lleol eu hunain hefyd, oherwydd ble mae eu hasgwrn cefn yn hyn o beth? Yn diystyru'r Gweinidog eto, beth yn eu barn nhw y mae hyn yn ei wneud i'w hawdurdod, yn enwedig pan yr oedden nhw, drwy Gymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru, wythnos yn ôl, yn annog y gwrthwyneb i'r hyn y maen nhw yn ei wneud nawr? Gweinidog, mae gennym ni safbwyntiau gwahanol ar lawer o bethau, ond dylai'r diffyg parch hwn i'ch swyddogaeth beri pryder i bob un ohonom ni, oherwydd mae hyn bellach wedi digwydd ddwywaith ar fater cau ysgolion, ac mae bron fel petai'r awdurdodau lleol yn ein pryfocio i ddileu eu cyfrifoldeb dros addysg. Yn y cyfamser, hoffwn ddiolch yn fawr i ddisgyblion, rhieni a staff yr ysgol am eu gwaith caled parhaus yn yr holl ddryswch hwn, a dymuno Nadolig llawen a, gobeithio, heddychlon iddyn nhw. Diolch.