English: Can I thank the Member for her questions? With regard to the independent sector, officials have been in touch with the Welsh Independent Schools Council to outline our intentions to legislate in this area, and they are very supportive of the approach that we are taking. They have no qualms at all and are happy to play their role in addressing these issues. I'm grateful to the Welsh Independent Schools Council for their initial welcome of these proposals and their willingness to engage with us in this regard. I appreciate that. This is not about imposing a curriculum on our home-educating parents, but there is already existing legislation in Wales that says that every child has the right to a suitable education. Now, you're quite right, there are probably many different views around this Chamber about what constitutes a suitable education, but I'm sure we could all agree that ensuring that a child is literate and ensuring that a child is numerate are the basic building blocks that any person needs to go on to fulfil their potential and to live successfully, and I don't think that's about imposing a state-run curriculum on a child. But those skills that I believe are necessary are the ones that we'll be focusing on. What's important is that there is a consistency across Wales - that we don't have 22 different approaches to what a suitable education looks like, and that there is fairness, and that there is transparency in that process. That's why it is necessary, I believe, to introduce statutory guidance to local authorities about how they should carry out their functions in this regard, because I don't want 22 different approaches, I want there to be a consistency across the piece, and I want that to be clear about what our expectations are. There will be an opportunity via the consultation, which will happen later on this year, for Members to feed into that consultation on what the statutory guidance looks like. I thought I had made it very clear in my statement that I respect the right of a parent to choose home education for their child if they believe that is in the best interests of their children. I am aware that parents do that for a whole host of reasons. One of the things that Darren mentioned is whether some parents feel forced into that choice, and I think there's a job of work to do - . If people have felt that they're being forced into this choice because of a lack of provision in mainstream education, we need to work harder to address that. There's been some horrible anecdotal evidence about schools encouraging parents to deregister their children just before the exams, so that issues around attendance and issues around exam performance don't count against the school's performance measures. That's clearly not acceptable. There's a whole host of other policy interventions we need to make with regard to how we manage performance in schools, to address those things. So, this is not about making a judgment on those choices that parents make, but it is about saying, 'In balancing the right you have as a parent to home educate your child, we, as a state, need to know where those children are.' I think most people out there will probably be surprised, listening to this debate or watching the news this evening, that we don't already do it - we don't already have this information. It's just knowing where those children are and being able to satisfy ourselves that those children are in receipt of a suitable education, balancing the rights of parents, but also the rights of the child.
Welsh: A gaf i ddiolch i'r Aelod am ei chwestiynau? O ran y sector annibynnol, mae swyddogion wedi bod mewn cysylltiad â Chyngor Ysgolion Annibynnol Cymru i amlinellu ein bwriadau i ddeddfu yn y maes hwn, ac maen nhw'n gefnogol iawn i'r dull yr ydym yn ei gymryd. Nid ydyn nhw'n poeni dim ac maen nhw'n hapus i wneud eu rhan wrth fynd i'r afael â'r materion hyn. Rwy'n ddiolchgar i Gyngor Ysgolion Annibynnol Cymru am eu croeso cychwynnol i'r cynigion hyn ac am eu parodrwydd i ymgysylltu â ni yn hyn o beth. Rwy'n gwerthfawrogi hynny. Nid oes a wnelo hyn â gorfodi cwricwlwm ar rieni sy'n addysgwyr cartref, ond mae deddfwriaeth eisoes yn bodoli yng Nghymru sy'n dweud bod gan bob plentyn yr hawl i addysg addas. Nawr, rydych yn llygad eich lle, mae'n debyg fod llawer o wahanol safbwyntiau ledled y Siambr hon ynglŷn â beth yn union yw addysg addas. Ond rwy'n siŵr y gall pawb gytuno bod sicrhau bod plentyn yn llythrennog ac yn rhifog yn gonglfeini sylfaenol sydd eu hangen ar unrhyw un i fynd ymlaen i gyflawni eu potensial a chael bywyd llwyddiannus, ac nid wyf i o'r farn fod a wnelo hynny a gorfodi plentyn i ddilyn cwricwlwm sy'n cael ei redeg gan wladwriaeth. Ond y sgiliau hynny y credaf eu bod yn angenrheidiol yw'r rhai y byddwn yn canolbwyntio arnynt. Yr hyn sy'n bwysig yw cael cysondeb ledled Cymru - nad oes gennym 22 o wahanol ddulliau o'r hyn y mae addysg addas yn ei olygu, a bod tegwch i'w gael, a bod tryloywder yn y broses honno. Dyna pam, yn fy marn i, y mae'n angenrheidiol cyflwyno canllawiau statudol i awdurdodau lleol ar sut y dylen nhw gyflawni eu swyddogaethau yn hyn o beth, oherwydd nid wyf i eisiau gweld 22 o wahanol ddulliau. Rwy'n dymuno sicrhau cysondeb ac rwy'n dymuno i hynny fod yn glir o ran ein disgwyliadau ni. Bydd cyfle drwy'r ymgynghoriad, a fydd yn digwydd yn ddiweddarach eleni, i'r Aelodau gyfrannu at yr ymgynghoriad hwnnw ar ffurf y canllawiau statudol. Roeddwn i'n credu fy mod wedi egluro yn fy natganiad fy mod yn parchu hawl rhieni i ddewis addysg yn y cartref i'w plentyn os ydyn nhw'n credu bod hynny er lles gorau eu plentyn. Rwy'n ymwybodol fod rhieni'n gwneud hynny am lu o resymau. Un o'r pethau y cyfeiriodd Darren atyn nhw yw fod rhai rhieni yn teimlo eu bod dan orfodaeth i wneud y dewis hwnnw, a chredaf fod cryn waith i'w wneud - . Os yw pobl yn teimlo'u bod nhw'n cael eu gorfodi i wneud y dewis hwn oherwydd diffyg yn y ddarpariaeth addysg prif ffrwd, mae angen inni weithio'n galetach i ymdrin â hynny. Bu peth tystiolaeth anecdotaidd ofnadwy am ysgolion yn annog rhieni i ddadgofrestru eu plant cyn yr arholiadau, fel na fydd materion yn ymwneud â phresenoldeb a materion yn ymwneud â pherfformiad mewn arholiadau yn cyfrif yn erbyn mesurau perfformiad yr ysgol. Yn amlwg, nid yw hynny'n dderbyniol. Ceir llu o ymyriadau polisi eraill, y mae angen inni eu gwneud o ran sut yr ydym yn rheoli perfformiad mewn ysgolion, er mwyn newid y pethau hynny. Felly, nid oes a wnelo hyn â barnu'r dewisiadau y mae rhieni'n eu gwneud, ond mae a wnelo â dweud, 'Wrth gydbwyso'r hawl sydd gennych fel rhiant i ddarparu addysg yn y cartref i'ch plentyn, mae angen i ni, fel gwladwriaeth, wybod ym mha le y mae'r plant hynny.' Rwy'n credu y byddai'r rhan fwyaf o bobl yn synnu, fwy na thebyg, wrth wrando ar y ddadl hon neu wrth wylio'r newyddion heno, nad ydym yn gwneud hynny'n barod - nid yw'r wybodaeth gennym ni'n barod. Mae'n fater o wybod ble yn union y mae'r plant hynny a'n bod ni'n bodloni ein hunain eu bod yn cael addysg addas, gan gydbwyso hawliau'r rhieni, ond hawliau'r plentyn hefyd.