English: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. I welcome the parity that you've announced between part-time and full-time students, and between undergraduates and postgraduate students. I'd like to add my own thanks to those of the Cabinet Secretary to the National Union of Students for fighting the good fight for part-time and postgrad students for so long. I also welcome the proposal that doctoral studies should be supported. However, I fail to see how offering £1,000 per student, regardless of income, is a positive step forward. The Cabinet Secretary may say that we may be taking about a relatively small amount of money here, but that money could be spent elsewhere in the education system, such as making essential repairs to a rural school. The Welsh Government is constantly complaining that they're not given sufficient funds, yet you can find the cash to give this handout to students from families on higher incomes. Whilst I'm not necessarily against the principle of a student loan system, I'm wary of saddling Welsh students with debt at the beginning of their careers. Graduates are now facing debts at the same level as my first mortgage. Is this really what we want for Welsh students? I'd welcome the Cabinet Secretary's explanation of how she is ensuring that students and graduates achieve a quality career service that will help them make the best decisions about which course to study and how much debt to incur. At the end of the day, these people are going to be saddled with an amount of debt. We need to make sure that they understand the level of debt, how long that's going to take them to pay off, and that that's actually a proper and worthy investment in their future before they actually incur the debt. Without quality careers advice, we risk Welsh students incurring debt for no good reason, as I said. I do believe the Cabinet Secretary has missed the opportunity to incentivise students to study those subjects such as science and engineering, which are desperately needed in our economy, by providing free tuition and means-tested grants for those subjects. I'm also concerned about the potential inflation of student costs, which could be caused in terms of rent et cetera, as landlords and others cotton on to the fact that students have access to loans and potentially more money. We saw it happen when student loans were introduced in the 1990s. Rent for student accommodation rocketed for a start. And, so, what is the Cabinet Secretary's assessment on inflation of costs for students, due to the measures announced today? Thank you.
Welsh: Diolch i chi am eich datganiad, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet. Rwy'n croesawu'r ffaith eich bod wedi cyhoeddi y caiff myfyrwyr rhan-amser ac amser llawn eu trin yr un fath, a hefyd israddedigion a myfyrwyr ôl-raddedig. Hoffwn fynegi fy niolch i hefyd, fel y gwnaeth Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, i Undeb Cenedlaethol y Myfyrwyr am ymladd y frwydr gyfiawn ar gyfer myfyrwyr rhan-amser ac ôl-raddedig am gyfnod mor hir. Rwyf hefyd yn croesawu'r cynnig y dylid cefnogi astudiaethau doethuriaeth. Fodd bynnag, ni allaf weld sut mae cynnig £1,000 am bob myfyriwr, waeth beth yw'r incwm, yn gam cadarnhaol ymlaen. Efallai fod Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet yn dweud y gallwn fod yn siarad am swm cymharol fach o arian yma, ond gellid gwario'r arian hwnnw mewn mannau eraill yn y system addysg, fel gwneud gwaith atgyweirio hanfodol i ysgol wledig. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cwyno yn gyson nad ydynt yn cael digon o arian, eto gallwch ddod o hyd i'r arian i roi'r rhodd hon i fyfyrwyr o deuluoedd ar incwm uwch. Er nad wyf o reidrwydd yn erbyn yr egwyddor o system fenthyciadau i fyfyrwyr, rwy'n gochel rhag rhoi baich dyled ar fyfyrwyr Cymreig ar ddechrau eu gyrfaoedd. Mae graddedigion bellach yn wynebu dyledion sydd ar yr un lefel â fy morgais cyntaf. Ai dyma'r hyn yr ydym ei eisiau ar gyfer myfyrwyr Cymru? Byddwn yn croesawu eglurhad gan Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet o sut mae hi'n sicrhau bod myfyrwyr a graddedigion yn llwyddo i gael gwasanaeth gyrfa o ansawdd a fydd yn eu helpu i wneud y penderfyniadau gorau ynghylch pa gwrs i'w astudio a faint o ddyled i'w hysgwyddo. Ar ddiwedd y dydd, bydd y bobl hyn yn ysgwyddo dyledion. Mae angen i ni wneud yn siŵr eu bod yn deall lefel y ddyled, pa mor hir y bydd yn ei gymryd i dalu'r ddyled, a bod hynny mewn gwirionedd yn fuddsoddiad priodol a theilwng yn eu dyfodol, cyn eu bod yn mynd i ddyled. Heb gyngor gyrfaoedd o ansawdd, rydym mewn perygl o weld myfyrwyr Cymru yn mynd i ddyled heb reswm da, fel y dywedais. Rwy'n credu bod Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet wedi colli'r cyfle i gymell myfyrwyr i astudio pynciau fel gwyddoniaeth a pheirianneg, y mae eu gwir angen yn ein heconomi, drwy ddarparu hyfforddiant am ddim a grantiau prawf modd ar gyfer y pynciau hynny. Rwyf hefyd yn pryderu am y chwyddiant posibl i gostau myfyrwyr, o ran rhenti ac ati, wrth i landlordiaid ac eraill ddeall bod gan fyfyrwyr fenthyciadau a mwy o arian o bosib. Gwelsom hyn yn digwydd pan gyflwynwyd benthyciadau i fyfyrwyr eu yn y 1990au. Aeth y rhent ar gyfer llety myfyrwyr i'r entrychion i ddechrau. Felly, beth yw asesiad Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet am y chwyddiant o ran costau i fyfyrwyr, yn sgil y mesurau a gyhoeddwyd heddiw? Diolch.