English: I fully concur with those views. We've got to promote and we've got to persuade because there are some people who need more persuading than we've done to date. It's not just in our schools; it's our pre-school system as well here in Wales that needs to have the opportunity to grow the number of places and its capacity. It's our further education sector in particular that isn't particularly well geared to providing Welsh-medium education opportunities, either. That's why we've been supportive of the Welsh Government's decision to review the Welsh in education strategic plans, to bring in Aled Roberts, as a trusted colleague of many AMs in this Chamber, in order to do that piece of work. But it's really important that that piece of work is completed as swiftly as possible and that those WESPs are kicked into shape properly so that we can actually set out a clear path to reaching this ambition of having 1 million Welsh language speakers by 2050. Those weaknesses in the system at the moment, where we don't have sufficient capacity in our pre-school arrangements, and where we don't have sufficient numbers of Welsh-medium teachers coming into the profession, must be addressed. In addition to that, it is a concern, as we've mentioned in one of our amendments, that Welsh-medium schools seem to have been affected disproportionately by closures over the past few years. About 41 per cent of all school closures since 1999 have been in Welsh-medium schools, and yet they account for just a quarter of all schools in Wales. So, it's been pretty disproportionate. The other thing that we are particularly keen that the Government does as well is look very carefully at the twenty-first century schools programme, to see whether there may be a way to promote extra capacity in terms of investing in our schools to create more Welsh-medium schools and more investment in Welsh-medium schools. The programme, as it sits at the moment, doesn't appear to be emphasising the need to create more Welsh-medium school places. So, we want you to look at that, if you would, Minister, because we do believe, on this side of the house, that this is a very important part of what this Assembly should be here to do. At the end of the day, when we were established - we're here to promote Wales. We're here to promote our culture. We're here to promote our language, and what better place to do that than through the education system and having a far greater emphasis on creating more places. We know that demand for Welsh-medium school places outstrips the capacity across Wales. It's not right that people and parents and learners are not having the choice to have their children educated through the medium of Welsh, and, unless we work together on all sides of this Chamber to achieve this ambition, we're never quite going to get there. So, we will be supporting the amendment that has been tabled by the Government, and we look forward to working with you, Minister, in order to deliver the ambitious approach that you have set out, and working with you also to make sure that those WESPs are ambitious, that the local authorities recognise their important responsibility to promote the Welsh language and to promote those extra places that we need to have secured and created in our Welsh-medium schools.
Welsh: Rwy'n cytuno'n llwyr â'r farn honno. Mae'n rhaid i ni hyrwyddo ac mae'n rhaid i ni berswadio oherwydd ceir rhai pobl sydd angen mwy o ddarbwyllo nag a wnaethom hyn yn hyn. Mae angen i'n system gyn-ysgol yn ogystal â'n hysgolion yma yng Nghymru gael cyfle i dyfu nifer y lleoedd a chapasiti. Nid yw ein sector addysg bellach yn benodol wedi'i baratoi'n arbennig o dda ar gyfer darparu cyfleoedd addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg ychwaith. Dyna pam yr ydym wedi bod yn gefnogol i benderfyniad Llywodraeth Cymru i adolygu'r cynlluniau strategol Cymraeg mewn addysg, i ddod ag Aled Roberts i mewn, fel cydweithiwr y gellir ymddiried ynddo i nifer o'r ACau yn y Siambr hon, er mwyn gwneud y gwaith hwnnw. Ond mae'n bwysig iawn fod y gwaith hwnnw'n cael ei gwblhau cyn gynted â phosibl a bod y cynlluniau strategol Cymraeg mewn addysg hynny yn cael eu siapio'n briodol er mwyn i ni allu nodi llwybr clir i gyrraedd yr uchelgais o gael 1 filiwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg erbyn 2050. Mae'n rhaid mynd i'r afael â'r gwendidau yn y system ar hyn o bryd, lle nad oes gennym ddigon o gapasiti yn ein trefniadau cyn-ysgol, a lle nad oes gennym nifer ddigonol o athrawon cyfrwng Cymraeg yn dod i mewn i'r proffesiwn. Yn ogystal â hynny, mae'n bryder, fel y dywedasom yn un o'n gwelliannau, ei bod yn ymddangos bod ysgolion Cymraeg wedi cael eu heffeithio'n anghymesur gan gau yn ystod yr ychydig flynyddoedd diwethaf. Mae tua 41 y cant o'r holl ysgolion a gaewyd ers 1999 wedi bod yn ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg, ac eto nid ydynt ond yn cynrychioli chwarter o holl ysgolion Cymru. Felly, mae wedi bod yn eithaf anghymesur. Y peth arall yr ydym yn arbennig o awyddus i'r Llywodraeth ei wneud yn ogystal yw edrych yn ofalus iawn ar raglen ysgolion yr unfed ganrif ar hugain i weld a allai fod ffordd o hybu capasiti ychwanegol o ran buddsoddi yn ein hysgolion er mwyn creu mwy o ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg a mwy o fuddsoddi mewn ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg. Nid yw'r rhaglen, fel y mae ar hyn o bryd, i'w gweld yn pwysleisio'r angen i greu mwy o leoedd mewn ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg. Felly, rydym am i chi edrych ar hynny, os gwnewch, Gweinidog, am ein bod yn credu, ar yr ochr hon i'r tŷ, ei fod yn rhan bwysig iawn o'r hyn y dylai'r Cynulliad hwn fod yma i'w wneud. Yn y pen draw, pan gawsom ein sefydlu - rydym yma i hyrwyddo Cymru. Rydym yma i hyrwyddo ein diwylliant. Rydym yma i hyrwyddo ein hiaith, a pha le gwell i wneud hynny na thrwy'r system addysg a chael llawer mwy o bwyslais ar greu mwy o leoedd. Rydym yn gwybod bod y galw am leoedd mewn ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg yn fwy na'r capasiti ar draws Cymru. Nid yw'n iawn nad yw pobl a rhieni a dysgwyr yn cael dewis cael eu plant wedi eu haddysgu drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg, ac oni bai ein bod yn gweithio gyda'n gilydd ar bob ochr i'r Siambr hon i gyflawni'r uchelgais hwn, nid ydym yn mynd i lwyddo i gyrraedd yno. Felly, byddwn yn cefnogi'r gwelliant a gyflwynwyd gan y Llywodraeth, ac edrychwn ymlaen at weithio gyda chi, Gweinidog, er mwyn cyflwyno'r dull uchelgeisiol rydych wedi'i nodi, a gweithio gyda chi hefyd i wneud yn siŵr fod y cynlluniau strategol Cymraeg mewn addysg yn uchelgeisiol, fod yr awdurdodau lleol yn cydnabod eu cyfrifoldeb pwysig i hybu'r iaith Gymraeg ac i hyrwyddo'r lleoedd ychwanegol y mae angen i ni fod wedi'u sicrhau a'u creu yn ein hysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg.