English: Well, nobody wanted to see the kind of cuts that were imposed on the FE sector, but that was a deliberate decision by the UK Tory Government in relation to austerity. That is the consequence of the cuts. We have to make decisions, we have to prioritise, and this was the decision that was forced upon us, that we did not want to take, but we had to take, because of that austerity decision, which is a political decision. That was a political decision that you did not have to make. But let me tell you about the sector itself. Compared to England, our FE sector is the model of stability, and I think that the coherence and the financial stability of those FE colleges is something that the Welsh Government has been working very diligently on over the past few years. So, I am confident that those colleges are in a much, much better place than any of the FE colleges are in England. In relation to colleges being able to derive additional income, I'm very open to that. In fact, I would encourage them to do a lot more of that, but in order to do that, I think they need to become a little bit more flexible to respond to the needs of learners, who may not be able to fit into the hours that colleges currently provide. So, I'm hoping that they will be more responsive. One of the things we've done to try and encourage that is to put £10 million on the table to say, 'You can access this pot if you can provide learning to people that coincides with the kind of priorities and the local skills that we've identified are needed.' And we've asked them to provide that and they've been really responsive and that's good. But I think that's the first step. I would certainly like them to become a little bit more flexible, so more than anything, I would like the public sector to really take a much better role in terms of engaging with the private sector so that they can be delivering these courses, rather than the private sector. You're talking about part-time learning again. The cuts have been significant and that's why what we've had to do is focus on specific areas. So, we've focused on basic skills, on digital and on English for speakers of other languages learning because we've had to, because that is what has been forced upon us by the UK Government. Just finally on the industrial action, I'm really delighted that we have been able to come to a conclusion on the industrial action. There will now be parity in terms of pay for FE college lecturers with sixth-form lecturers, but we've gone further than that - we've also helped to make sure that it's not just college lectures, but other people who are in the support services, some of whom are on very low incomes, who will also benefit from this additional support that the Welsh Government has put on the table.
Welsh: Wel, doedd neb yn dymuno gweld y math o doriadau a gafodd eu gorfodi ar y sector addysg bellach, ond penderfyniad bwriadol gan Lywodraeth Dorïaidd y DU oedd hwnnw yn unol â chyni. Dyna yw canlyniad y toriadau. Mae'n rhaid inni wneud penderfyniadau, mae'n rhaid inni flaenoriaethu, a hwn oedd y penderfyniad a orfodwyd arnom ni. Nid oeddem yn dymuno ei gymryd, ond roedd yn rhaid inni ei gymryd, oherwydd y penderfyniad hwnnw o ran cyni, sydd yn benderfyniad gwleidyddol. Roedd hwnnw'n benderfyniad gwleidyddol nad oedd raid ichi ei wneud. Ond gadewch imi ddweud wrthych chi am y sector ei hunan. O'i gymharu â Lloegr, mae ein sector addysg bellach yn batrwm o sefydlogrwydd, a chredaf fod cydlyniad a sefydlogrwydd ariannol y colegau addysg bellach hynny yn bethau y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi gweithio'n ddiwyd iawn arnyn nhw dros yr ychydig flynyddoedd diwethaf. Felly, rwy'n hyderus y bydd y colegau hynny mewn gwell sefyllfa o lawer iawn nag unrhyw un o'r colegau addysg bellach yn Lloegr. O ran gallu colegau i gael gafael ar incwm ychwanegol, rwy'n agored iawn i hynny. Yn wir, byddwn yn eu hannog i wneud llawer mwy o hynny. Ond er mwyn gwneud hynny, credaf fod angen iddyn nhw fod ychydig yn fwy hyblyg ar gyfer ymateb i anghenion dysgwyr, nad ydyn nhw efallai'n gallu ffitio i mewn i'r oriau y mae colegau'n eu cynnig ar hyn o bryd. Felly, rwy'n gobeithio y byddan nhw'n fwy parod i ymateb. Un o'r pethau a wnaed i geisio annog hynny oedd gosod £10 miliwn ar y bwrdd er mwyn dweud, 'Fe gewch chi fynd i'r pot hwn os gwnewch chi ddarparu addysg i bobl sy'n cyd-fynd â'r math o flaenoriaethau a'r sgiliau lleol yr ydym ni wedi nodi sydd eu hangen.' Ac rydym wedi gofyn iddyn nhw ddarparu hynny ac maen nhw wedi bod yn ymatebol iawn, a da o beth yw hynny. Ond rwyf i o'r farn mai dyma'r cam cyntaf. Yn sicr, hoffwn pe baent ychydig yn fwy hyblyg, ac yn fwy na dim, hoffwn weld y sector cyhoeddus yn gweithio'n llawer gwell o ran ymgysylltu â'r sector preifat fel y gallan nhw ddarparu'r cyrsiau hyn, yn hytrach na'r sector preifat. Rydych yn sôn am addysg ran-amser eto. Mae'r toriadau wedi bod yn sylweddol a dyna pam y bu'n rhaid inni ganolbwyntio ar feysydd penodol. Felly, rydym wedi bod yn canolbwyntio ar sgiliau sylfaenol, ar dechnoleg ddigidol ac ar addysg Saesneg i siaradwyr ieithoedd eraill gan fod yn rhaid inni, gan mai dyna beth a orfodwyd arnom gan Lywodraeth y DU. Ac yn olaf, ar y gweithredu diwydiannol, rwy'n wirioneddol falch ein bod wedi gallu dod i gytundeb ar y gweithredu diwydiannol. Bydd cydraddoldeb cyflog nawr ar gyfer darlithwyr coleg addysg bellach a darlithwyr chweched dosbarth. Ond rydym wedi mynd ymhellach na hynny - rydym hefyd wedi helpu i wneud yn siŵr nad darlithwyr y colegau yn unig, ond pobl eraill sydd yn y gwasanaethau cymorth, rai ohonyn nhw ar incwm isel iawn, fydd yn elwa hefyd ar y cymorth ychwanegol hwn y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi ei osod ar y bwrdd.