English: Can I thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement, although, I have to say it's been a long time coming? We've known that we have not been sufficiently stretching our most able and talented pupils for a number of years now. Not only has Estyn confirmed this, but we've had others also confirm it - in particular, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - and I do believe that the lack of action has, unfortunately, left some people behind. But that said, I do welcome the fact that we have a statement today that there's going to be some additional investment in the Seren network. Quite obviously, we have a problem here in Wales. We're not doing well enough on the OECD league tables. Our GCSE results last year were the poorest for a decade, in spite of the fact that the arrangements with Qualifications Wales et cetera seek to eliminate the impact of the fact that they were new GCSEs. We know also that we have some problems within the existing Seren network in terms of inconsistency, in terms of different qualification criteria from one Seren hub to the next, and indeed not having equitable access within those Seren hubs or, indeed, across Wales. I note that you're making £3 million available over a two-year period, but what about beyond those two years? Is this going to be a sustainable thing? You said you want to do some research as well. It's going to take probably more than two years to be able to follow and track these individuals through the education system, and if you're picking up youngsters pre GCSEs and taking them all the way through to the end of their A-levels, that's a four-year period. So, how on earth is simply committing £3 million over a two-year period sufficient to be able to measure the progress of those individuals? We don't have any base data, of course, because the reality is that none of the kids who are currently engaged with the Seren network are being tracked to see where they actually go on from their studies in schools. We have no idea how many of them go on to the best universities in the UK and, indeed, overseas. So, I'd be grateful for an explanation from you as to where the £3 million figure is from, how you've worked out that that is sufficient funding for this network, why you've only committed to funding it to that extent for the next two years, and what precisely you're going to be measuring in terms of the baseline data, so that we can see whether there's been any improvement in order to hold you to account for this. In addition to that, you talk about equity. We hear a lot in this Chamber about parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications. What about putting something in place for high-achieving vocational young people? Why can't we have something similar to get those new engineers through with higher level apprenticeships in our further education system? Why can't we be tracking those as well as the high academic achievers? I don't understand why you aren't announcing anything for them, and I would very much like to see what you're going to do in order to support them too. So, we need a different approach. I welcome the fact that there are extra resources on the table, but I don't think that this statement answers many of the questions that lots of people have about the current framework and how you're going to make sure that the new framework works. Can I just also ask you in terms of eligibility criteria very quickly? This is, of course, a big problem with the current Seren hubs and networks. It's very different from one to the next. Are you going to set eligibility criteria so that young people know from the outset what they're expected to achieve in order to access the support from Seren? If so, what is that support going to look like in a tangible sense? Is it schools that are going to be getting extra resources, or is it just simply people getting together now and again, and the occasional meeting for practitioners to attend, or is there going to be some finance attached to those individuals in those schools in order to give them extra support with their education? I don't think that you've said enough today, frankly, Cabinet Secretary, and I would certainly like to know a lot more detail.
Welsh: A gaf i ddiolch i chi, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, am eich datganiad, er, mae'n rhaid i mi ddweud ein bod wedi aros yn hir amdano? Rydym ni wedi gwybod nad ydym wedi bod yn ymestyn ein disgyblion mwyaf abl a thalentog yn ddigonol ers sawl blwyddyn bellach. Mae Estyn wedi cadarnhau hyn, ac mae eraill wedi cadarnhau hyn hefyd - yn benodol, y Sefydliad ar gyfer Cydweithrediad a Datblygiad Economaidd - ac rwy'n credu bod y diffyg gweithredu, yn anffodus, wedi gadael rhai pobl ar ei hôl hi. Ond wedi dweud hynny, rwy'n croesawu'r ffaith bod gennym ddatganiad heddiw yn nodi y bydd rhywfaint o fuddsoddiad ychwanegol yn y rhwydwaith Seren. Yn hollol amlwg, mae gennym ni broblem yma yng Nghymru. Nid ydym ni'n perfformio'n ddigon da ar dablau cynghrair yr OECD. Roedd ein canlyniadau TGAU y llynedd y gwaethaf ers degawd, er gwaethaf y ffaith bod y trefniadau gyda Cymwysterau Cymru ac ati yn ceisio dileu effaith y ffaith eu bod yn gymwysterau TGAU newydd. Gwyddom hefyd fod gennym rai problemau o fewn y rhwydwaith Seren presennol o ran anghysondeb, o ran gwahanol meini prawf cymwysterau o un ganolfan Seren i'r llall, ac yn wir heb fod â mynediad teg yn y canolfannau Seren hynny nac, yn wir, ledled Cymru. Nodaf y bydd £3 miliwn ar gael gennych dros gyfnod o ddwy flynedd, ond beth am y tu hwnt i'r ddwy flynedd hynny? A fydd hyn yn rhywbeth cynaliadwy? Gwnaethoch chi sôn eich bod yn dymuno gwneud rhywfaint o ymchwil hefyd. Mae'n debygol y bydd yn cymryd mwy na dwy flynedd i allu dilyn ac olrhain yr unigolion hyn drwy'r system addysg, ac os ydych chi'n nodi pobl ifanc cyn TGAU ac yn eu dilyn yr holl ffordd hyd at ddiwedd safon uwch, mae hynny'n gyfnod o bedair blynedd. Felly, sut ar y ddaear mae ymrwymo £3 miliwn dros gyfnod o ddwy flynedd yn ddigon i allu mesur cynnydd yr unigolion hynny? Nid oes gennym ni unrhyw ddata sylfaenol, wrth gwrs, oherwydd y gwir amdani yw nad oes unrhyw blant sy'n rhan o rwydwaith Seren ar hyn o bryd yn cael eu holrhain i weld lle maen nhw'n mynd mewn gwirionedd ar ôl eu hastudiaethau mewn ysgolion. Does dim unrhyw syniad gennym ni faint ohonyn nhw sy'n mynd i'r prifysgolion gorau yn y DU ac, yn wir, dramor. Felly, byddwn i'n ddiolchgar am eglurhad gennych ynghylch o le mae'r ffigur £3 miliwn wedi dod, sut ydych chi wedi gweithio allan ei fod yn ddigonol ar gyfer y rhwydwaith hwn, pam yr ydych chi dim ond wedi ymrwymo i'w ariannu i'r graddau hynny am y ddwy flynedd nesaf, a beth yn union y byddwch chi'n ei fesur o ran y data sylfaenol, er mwyn i ni allu gweld a fu unrhyw welliant er mwyn eich dwyn i gyfrif am hyn. Yn ogystal â hynny, rydych yn sôn am degwch. Rydym ni'n clywed llawer yn y Siambr hon am barch cydradd rhwng cymwysterau academaidd a galwedigaethol. Beth am roi rhywbeth ar waith ar gyfer pobl ifanc galwedigaethol sy'n cyflawni uchel? Pam na allwn ni gael rhywbeth tebyg i gael y peirianwyr newydd hynny ar brentisiaethau lefel uwch yn ein system addysg bellach? Pam na allwn ni eu holrhain nhw hefyd yn ogystal â'r cyflawnwyr uchel academaidd? Dydw i ddim yn deall pam nad ydych chi'n cyhoeddi unrhyw beth ar eu cyfer nhw, a hoffwn i'n fawr iawn weld beth yr ydych chi'n myn i'w wneud er mwyn eu cefnogi nhw hefyd. Felly, mae angen dull gwahanol arnom. Rwy'n croesawu'r ffaith eich bod yn cynnig adnoddau ychwanegol, ond dydw i ddim yn credu bod y datganiad hwn yn ateb llawer o'r cwestiynau sydd gan lawer o bobl am y fframwaith presennol a sut y byddwch chi'n gwneud yn siŵr bod y fframwaith newydd yn gweithio. A gaf i hefyd ofyn i chi yn gyflym iawn ynghylch meini prawf cymhwysedd? Mae hyn, wrth gwrs, yn broblem fawr gyda'r canolfannau a'r rhwydweithiau Seren presennol. Mae'n wahanol iawn o un i'r llall. A fyddwch chi'n pennu meini prawf cymhwysedd fel bod pobl ifanc yn gwybod o'r cychwyn cyntaf beth yr ydych chi'n disgwyl iddynt ei gyflawni er mwyn cael gafael ar y cymorth gan Seren? Os felly, beth fydd y gefnogaeth honno mewn ystyr ddiriaethol? Ai ysgolion fydd yn cael adnoddau ychwanegol, neu ai pobl fydd yn dod at ei gilydd o bryd i'w gilydd, a'r cyfarfod achlysurol ar gyfer ymarferwyr, neu a fydd rhywfaint o gyllid yn gysylltiedig â'r unigolion hynny yn yr ysgolion hynny i roi cymorth ychwanegol iddynt â'u haddysg? Nid wyf yn credu eich bod wedi dweud digon heddiw, a dweud y gwir, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, a hoffwn i, yn sicr, wybod llawer mwy o fanylion.