English: I move the motion, and I'm glad to open this important and timely debate before the Senedd. Education is considered to be, in that famous phrase, the greatest of equalisers. However, despite the best efforts of our teachers and support staff, poverty is an insidious creature. It creeps into settings where everyone should be treated equally, hampering attempts at levelling the playing field, leaving a damaging trail of inequity, exclusivity and stigma, stifling opportunity, harming the well-being of our youngest citizens. And as child poverty exists in every part of Wales, it is therefore present in every state school. There isn't a single council ward with a child poverty rate below 12 per cent. For the three-year period up to 2019, 28 per cent of children in Wales were living in households below the poverty line, roughly 195,000 children. By 2021, this figure had risen to 31 per cent. The cost-of-living crisis is set to make these shocking statistics even worse. The cut to universal credit and working tax credits has reduced the incomes of 40 per cent of households with children by over £1,000 a year. Even before the COVID crisis hit, with its detrimental and disproportionate effect on our most socioeconomically deprived communities, these children were at a higher risk of being in ill health, and less likely to achieve the top grades in their school than their peers from higher income households. We must seek solutions. The Child Poverty Action Group report on reducing the cost of the school day in Wales, published last month, gives voice to those who are made to feel excluded, unhappy or different because of their economic circumstances. We need concerted action to raise family incomes and reduce living costs, and a focus on changing practices that currently reinforce stigma and treat people in poverty in less favourable ways. Today's debate is about doing this through the education system. We may believe that sending a child to school is free. However, as we will hear, it bears a daily cost. Families are routinely asked to contribute towards the costs of school uniform, trips, charity fundraising, school meals and snacks, and to provide equipment and resources for different subjects. This can expose children to the risk of stigma and shame when they're unable to afford even small charges for participation. While there is guidance for school governing bodies around many of these elements of the school day and of school life, much of it is not statutory, and its application is inconsistent. The consequences of many policies or ways of doing things are, of course, often unintentional, but that really isn't good enough. From an equalities perspective, from a human rights perspective, from a children's rights perspective, from a moral perspective, things need to change. The motion details just some ways that the Government could address this issue. My fellow Members Luke Fletcher, Delyth Jewell and Heledd Fychan will focus on specific measures, such as the affordability of school uniform, trips and activities, and the take-up of entitlements. The introduction of free school meals for all pupils in primary school through the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru demonstrates that great change to the way we approach and tackle child poverty is possible. Given the current economic climate, we should now ensure that the acceleration of the roll-out of free school meals in primary school is a top priority for the Government. We should also acknowledge that the larger goal is to build on that commitment.
Welsh: Rwy'n gwneud y cynnig, ac rwy'n falch o agor y ddadl bwysig ac amserol hon gerbron y Senedd. Yn yr ymadrodd enwog hwnnw, ystyrir mai addysg yw'r cydraddolwr gorau. Fodd bynnag, er gwaethaf ymdrechion gorau ein hathrawon a'n staff cymorth, mae tlodi'n greadur llechwraidd. Mae'n treiddio i leoedd lle y dylai pawb gael ei drin yn gyfartal, gan lesteirio ymdrechion i drin pawb yn deg, a gadael trywydd o annhegwch, allgáu a stigma o'i ôl, yn mygu cyfleoedd ac yn niweidio llesiant ein dinasyddion ieuengaf. A chan fod tlodi plant yn bodoli ym mhob rhan o Gymru, mae'n bresennol ym mhob ysgol wladol. Ni cheir yr un ward cyngor sydd â chyfradd tlodi plant is na 12 y cant. Am y cyfnod o dair blynedd hyd at 2019, roedd 28 y cant o blant Cymru yn byw ar aelwydydd islaw'r llinell dlodi, tua 195,000 o blant. Erbyn 2021, roedd y ffigur hwn wedi codi i 31 y cant. Disgwylir y bydd yr argyfwng costau byw yn gwneud yr ystadegau brawychus hyn hyd yn oed yn waeth. Mae'r toriad i gredyd cynhwysol a chredydau treth gwaith wedi gostwng incwm 40 y cant o aelwydydd â phlant dros £1,000 y flwyddyn. Hyd yn oed cyn i argyfwng COVID daro, gyda'i effaith niweidiol ac anghymesur ar ein cymunedau mwyaf difreintiedig yn economaidd-gymdeithasol, roedd y plant hyn mewn mwy o berygl o fod yn wael eu hiechyd ac yn llai tebygol o gyflawni'r graddau uchaf yn eu hysgol na'u cyfoedion o gartrefi incwm uwch. Mae'n rhaid inni ddod o hyd i atebion. Mae adroddiad y Grŵp Gweithredu ar Dlodi Plant ar leihau cost y diwrnod ysgol yng Nghymru, a gyhoeddwyd fis diwethaf, yn rhoi llais i'r rhai sy'n cael eu gwneud i deimlo eu bod wedi'u hallgáu, yn anhapus neu'n wahanol oherwydd eu hamgylchiadau economaidd. Mae arnom angen gweithredu ar y cyd i godi incwm teuluoedd a lleihau costau byw, a chanolbwyntio ar newid arferion sy'n atgyfnerthu stigma ar hyn o bryd ac yn trin pobl sy'n byw mewn tlodi mewn ffyrdd llai ffafriol. Mae'r ddadl heddiw'n ymwneud â chyflawni hyn drwy'r system addysg. Efallai ein bod yn credu bod anfon plentyn i'r ysgol yn digwydd yn ddi-dâl. Fodd bynnag, fel y clywn, mae cost ddyddiol ynghlwm wrtho. Gofynnir i deuluoedd gyfrannu fel mater o drefn tuag at gostau gwisg ysgol, tripiau, elusennau, prydau ysgol a byrbrydau, ac i ddarparu cyfarpar ac adnoddau ar gyfer gwahanol bynciau. Gall hyn wneud plant yn agored i'r risg o stigma a chywilydd pan na allant fforddio hyd yn oed costau bach i allu cymryd rhan. Er bod canllawiau i gyrff llywodraethu ysgolion ar lawer o'r elfennau hyn o'r diwrnod ysgol a bywyd ysgol, mae llawer ohono'n anstatudol, a'r modd y caiff ei gymhwyso yn anghyson. Mae canlyniadau llawer o bolisïau neu ffyrdd o wneud pethau yn aml yn anfwriadol wrth gwrs, ond nid yw hynny'n ddigon da mewn gwirionedd. O safbwynt cydraddoldeb, o safbwynt hawliau dynol, o safbwynt hawliau plant, o safbwynt moesol, mae angen i bethau newid. Mae'r cynnig yn manylu ar rai o'r ffyrdd y gallai'r Llywodraeth fynd i'r afael â'r mater hwn. Bydd fy nghyd-Aelodau, Luke Fletcher, Delyth Jewell a Heledd Fychan yn canolbwyntio ar fesurau penodol, megis fforddiadwyedd gwisg ysgol, tripiau a gweithgareddau, a'r niferoedd sy'n hawlio budd-daliadau y mae ganddynt hawl i'w cael. Mae cyflwyno prydau ysgol am ddim i bob disgybl yn yr ysgol gynradd drwy'r cytundeb cydweithio â Phlaid Cymru yn dangos ei bod yn bosibl gwneud newidiadau mawr i'r ffordd yr ydym yn ymdrin â thlodi plant ac yn ei drechu. O ystyried yr hinsawdd economaidd sydd ohoni, dylem sicrhau yn awr fod cyflymu'r broses o gyflwyno prydau ysgol am ddim yn yr ysgol gynradd yn un o brif flaenoriaethau'r Llywodraeth. Dylem hefyd gydnabod mai'r nod yn y pen draw yw adeiladu ar yr ymrwymiad hwnnw.