English: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. It's a real pleasure for me as a former teaching assistant to respond to this debate today. I think it's been a really interesting debate, with a lot of different perspectives on exactly what the problem is. And I was actually, in part, encouraged by the Minister's response to a number of the problems. Laura Anne Jones in her initial remarks talked about the over-dependence on supply teachers and the pressures that puts on teaching assistants - because it's important to remember that these shortages are not just shortages on a spreadsheet, they have real-life impacts in classrooms, and the effect that that has on existing staff I think Laura covered really well. She also mentioned about how we need more pathways into the profession. People with - . Not just - sorry, I can't remember who said it now - people who have left university only to return to teach in the school that they themselves learnt in, but people with life experience from other walks of life, and that's really important too. So, those are some of the things our motion today is looking to achieve. Siân Gwenllian was right to say that the reasons for this teacher recruitment shortage are very complex indeed, and the point she made about teachers leaving the profession within the first five years was entirely correct. I was a little bit disappointed by the Minister's reaction to that particular intervention, because he mentioned there was more to do, but was very non-specific, I thought, about exactly what action he was taking to address that. Samuel Kurtz spoke at length about the crisis with Welsh language teachers in particular, and if we don't tackle that problem, reaching the 2050 target of Welsh speakers becomes very, very difficult indeed. So, we need real action on that, and if you look at the age profile of a number of the Welsh language teachers that are currently in the profession as well, this is something that's worth looking at too. So, this is a problem that, if we don't tackle today, is only going to continue to get worse. I particularly liked James Evans's contribution, because, going back to what I said earlier about numbers on a spreadsheet and the number of teachers in the profession, teachers have much more of a value than that. Teachers have a real-life impact on the pupils and the communities that they teach in. They teach more than just the curriculum, and, going back to what Laura said, that's why it so important that people with other life experiences get into the profession and teach, because we know the impact that they can have as well, because they become a real part of the communities they serve in. And Gareth Davies was right, as well, to point out the effects that the pandemic has had on teaching. I'd wager that there aren't many professions, probably, over the last 18 months, that have had to change and adapt more than the teaching profession has had to do. So, I was encouraged then to hear the Minister - and I welcomed some of the things that the Minister said - talk about professional learning and development, and I welcome the investment he mentioned in that as well, because I think that is really important. But I do note that he talked a lot about the role that regional partnerships had in doing that, but, unfortunately, Estyn found that, whilst they did play a positive role, that was underdeveloped and patchy across Wales, particularly in our shared - in the part of the world that we represent - ERW region, which is another story in and of itself. So, I just wanted to use my time today to focus on the new curriculum. Teachers in Wales are facing significant pressures to plan for and implement that new curriculum, which is adding to the workloads of many who are already overworked. Whilst a recent survey commissioned by the Welsh Government found very strong levels of commitment to the curriculum reforms among teaching staff, there were also significant concerns within schools about a number of key aspects concerning its implementation. It showed around half of the senior leaders were not clear about how assessment arrangements will change in their school following the reforms and what their school is required to do to plan their assessment arrangements. Only 21 per cent of school leaders believed they had sufficient time to prepare for the roll-out of the curriculum, with just over half of senior leaders disagreeing with the statement that: 'To date, sufficient time has been available within the school calendar to prepare for the new curriculum'. Some schools are struggling to prepare for the new curriculum, with 13 per cent of school leaders believing that their school did not have sufficient staff capacity to design the new curriculum either, and this comes back to the point in our motion today that the Welsh Government should set that target, firm and in writing, of recruiting 5,000 new teachers over the next five years, because recruiting more staff can alleviate many of the concerns raised not just by us as politicians, but by teachers, parents and senior leaders alike. One thing that has come across as a result of this lack of a target, vision and planning from the Welsh Government when it comes to teaching recruitment is how heavily reliant schools are now, as Laura Anne Jones said, on supply teachers because of the lack of other teachers in Wales. Schools in Wales spent approximately £250 million on supply staff across Wales from 2016-21, and, yes, supply teachers are a major lifeline for schools and they do a very good job, but that is not a long-term solution. Schools have had to deal with staff shortages and self-isolation, of course, over the last years of the pandemic, but this overreliance on supply teachers needs to end, and we need more permanent teachers in schools, more than anything, for the value that James Evans spoke about, which they can give in their schools as well. So, I think we're stood at a crossroads today. Our motion is very clear - there is a plan to deal with it. This is a problem and it will not change overnight, but what I will say is the alternative is doing nothing, and doing nothing is what got us into this situation.
Welsh: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Fel cyn-gynorthwyydd addysgu, mae'n bleser mawr gennyf ymateb i'r ddadl hon heddiw. Rwy'n credu ei bod wedi bod yn ddadl ddiddorol iawn, gyda llawer o safbwyntiau gwahanol ar beth yn union yw'r broblem. Ac fe'm calonogwyd, yn rhannol, gan ymateb y Gweinidog i nifer o'r problemau. Soniodd Laura Anne Jones yn ei sylwadau cychwynnol am yr orddibyniaeth ar athrawon cyflenwi a'r pwysau y mae hynny'n ei roi ar gynorthwywyr addysgu - oherwydd mae'n bwysig cofio nad prinder ar daenlen yn unig yw'r prinder hwn, mae'n cael effaith go iawn mewn ystafelloedd dosbarth, ac rwy'n credu bod Laura wedi ymdrin yn dda iawn â'r effaith y mae hynny'n ei chael ar staff presennol. Soniodd hefyd ynglŷn â sut rydym angen mwy o lwybrau i mewn i'r proffesiwn. Pobl ag - . Nid yn unig - mae'n ddrwg gennyf, ni allaf gofio pwy a'i dywedodd yn awr - pobl sydd wedi gadael y brifysgol i ddychwelyd i addysgu yn yr ysgol y cawsant hwy eu hunain eu dysgu ynddi, ond pobl sydd â phrofiad bywyd o gefndiroedd eraill, ac mae hynny'n bwysig iawn hefyd. Felly, dyna rai o'r pethau y mae ein cynnig heddiw yn bwriadu eu cyflawni. Roedd Siân Gwenllian yn iawn i ddweud bod y rhesymau dros y prinder o ran recriwtio athrawon yn gymhleth iawn yn wir, ac roedd y pwynt a wnaeth am athrawon yn gadael y proffesiwn o fewn y pum mlynedd cyntaf yn gwbl gywir. Roeddwn braidd yn siomedig ynghylch ymateb y Gweinidog i'r ymyrraeth benodol honno, oherwydd soniodd fod mwy i'w wneud, ond nid oedd yn benodol iawn yn fy marn i, ynghylch yr union gamau roedd yn eu cymryd i fynd i'r afael â hynny. Siaradodd Samuel Kurtz yn helaeth am yr argyfwng gydag athrawon Cymraeg yn arbennig, ac os nad awn i'r afael â'r broblem honno, mae cyrraedd targed 2050 o siaradwyr Cymraeg yn mynd i fod yn anodd iawn yn wir. Felly, rydym angen gweithredu go iawn ar hynny, ac os edrychwch ar broffil oedran nifer o'r athrawon Cymraeg sydd yn y proffesiwn ar hyn o bryd, mae hwn yn rhywbeth sy'n werth edrych arno hefyd. Felly, mae hon yn broblem a fydd yn parhau i waethygu os nad awn i'r afael â hi heddiw. Roeddwn yn arbennig o hoff o gyfraniad James Evans, oherwydd, i fynd yn ôl at yr hyn a ddywedais yn gynharach am niferoedd ar daenlen a nifer yr athrawon yn y proffesiwn, mae athrawon yn llawer mwy gwerthfawr na hynny. Mae athrawon yn cael effaith go iawn ar y disgyblion y maent yn eu haddysgu a'r cymunedau y maent yn addysgu ynddynt. Maent yn addysgu mwy na'r cwricwlwm yn unig, ac i fynd yn ôl at yr hyn a ddywedodd Laura, dyna pam ei bod mor bwysig i bobl sydd â phrofiadau bywyd eraill fynd i mewn i'r proffesiwn ac addysgu, oherwydd gwyddom am yr effaith y gallant hwy ei chael hefyd, oherwydd dônt yn rhan go iawn o'r cymunedau y maent yn eu gwasanaethu. Ac roedd Gareth Davies yn iawn, hefyd, i dynnu sylw at yr effeithiau y mae'r pandemig wedi'u cael ar addysgu. Byddwn yn mentro dweud nad oes llawer o broffesiynau, mae'n debyg, dros y 18 mis diwethaf, sydd wedi gorfod newid ac addasu mwy nag y bu'n rhaid i'r proffesiwn addysgu ei wneud. Felly, fe'm calonogwyd i glywed y Gweinidog - ac roeddwn yn croesawu rhai o'r pethau a ddywedodd y Gweinidog - yn sôn am ddysgu a datblygiad proffesiynol, ac rwy'n croesawu'r buddsoddiad a grybwyllodd yn hynny hefyd, oherwydd credaf fod hynny'n bwysig iawn. Ond nodaf ei fod wedi sôn llawer am rôl partneriaethau rhanbarthol wrth wneud hynny, ond yn anffodus, canfu Estyn, er eu bod wedi chwarae rôl gadarnhaol, nad oedd wedi'i ddatblygu'n ddigonol a'i fod yn dameidiog ledled Cymru, yn enwedig yn y rhanbarth a rannwn - yn y rhan o'r byd a gynrychiolwn - rhanbarth ERW, sy'n stori arall ynddi ei hun. Felly, roeddwn eisiau defnyddio fy amser heddiw i ganolbwyntio ar y cwricwlwm newydd. Mae athrawon yng Nghymru yn wynebu pwysau sylweddol i gynllunio ar gyfer y cwricwlwm newydd hwnnw a'i roi ar waith, sy'n ychwanegu at lwyth gwaith nifer o athrawon sydd eisoes wedi'u gorweithio. Er bod arolwg diweddar a gomisiynwyd gan Lywodraeth Cymru wedi canfod lefelau cryf iawn o ymrwymiad i ddiwygio'r cwricwlwm ymhlith staff addysgu, roedd pryderon sylweddol hefyd mewn ysgolion ynghylch nifer o agweddau allweddol yn ymwneud â'i weithredu. Dangosodd nad oedd tua hanner yr uwch arweinwyr yn glir ynglŷn â sut y byddai trefniadau asesu yn newid yn eu hysgol yn dilyn y diwygiadau na'r hyn sy'n ofynnol i'r ysgol ei wneud i gynllunio eu trefniadau asesu. Dim ond 21 y cant o arweinwyr ysgolion a oedd yn credu bod ganddynt ddigon o amser i baratoi ar gyfer cyflwyno'r cwricwlwm, gydag ychydig dros hanner yr uwch arweinwyr yn anghytuno â'r datganiad: 'Hyd yma, mae digon o amser wedi bod ar gael o fewn calendr yr ysgol i baratoi ar gyfer y cwricwlwm newydd'. Mae rhai ysgolion yn ei chael hi'n anodd paratoi ar gyfer y cwricwlwm newydd, gyda 13 y cant o arweinwyr ysgolion yn credu nad oedd gan eu hysgol ddigon o gapasiti staffio i gynllunio'r cwricwlwm newydd chwaith, a daw hyn yn ôl at y pwynt yn ein cynnig heddiw y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru osod y targed, yn gadarn ac yn ysgrifenedig, o recriwtio 5,000 o athrawon newydd dros y pum mlynedd nesaf, oherwydd gall recriwtio mwy o staff leddfu llawer o'r pryderon a godwyd nid yn unig gennym ni fel gwleidyddion, ond gan athrawon, rhieni ac uwch arweinwyr fel ei gilydd. Un peth sydd wedi codi o ganlyniad i'r diffyg targed, gweledigaeth a chynlluniau gan Lywodraeth Cymru mewn perthynas â recriwtio i'r byd addysg yw pa mor ddibynnol yw ysgolion yn awr, fel y dywedodd Laura Anne Jones, ar athrawon cyflenwi oherwydd prinder athrawon eraill yng Nghymru. Gwariodd ysgolion yng Nghymru tua £250 miliwn ar staff cyflenwi ledled Cymru rhwng 2016 a 2021, ac mae athrawon cyflenwi yn achubiaeth fawr i ysgolion ac maent yn gwneud gwaith da iawn, ond nid yw hwnnw'n ateb hirdymor. Mae ysgolion wedi gorfod ymdrin â phrinder staff a hunanynysu, wrth gwrs, dros flynyddoedd diwethaf y pandemig, ond mae angen i'r orddibyniaeth hon ar athrawon cyflenwi ddod i ben, ac yn fwy na dim mae arnom angen mwy o athrawon parhaol mewn ysgolion oherwydd y gwerth y soniodd James Evans amdano, gwerth y gallant ei gyfrannu i'w hysgolion hefyd. Felly, rwy'n credu ein bod yn sefyll ar groesffordd heddiw. Mae ein cynnig yn glir iawn - mae yna gynllun i yndrin ag ef. Mae hon yn broblem ac ni fydd yn newid dros nos, ond y dewis arall yw gwneud dim, a gwneud dim yw'r hyn sydd wedi ein rhoi ni yn y sefyllfa hon.