English: Thanks to the Conservatives for bringing today's debate. We in the UKIP group agree that there is a problem with both recruiting and retaining teachers. To some extent, the issues relating to this problem are common to both England and Wales, but there are also some issues that are peculiar to Wales. In some ways, the Welsh Government has made life harder for itself in terms of recruiting teachers because of an over-reliance on particular qualifications. Yes, we need to ensure that we have the right people entering the teaching profession, but we also know that you can't measure things, and certainly you can't measure people, by qualifications alone. Now, we have an education Minister who has frequently made the sensible point that we can't just look at statistics all the time; we have to look at everything in context. We have to see the broader picture. And I think we can actually apply that mindset a little to the recruitment of teachers. So, hopefully, the Minister will apply her own maxim to this issue. In our view, an over-reliance on qualifications means that many life-experienced people, some of whom at least would be suitable for the classroom, can't get into the teaching profession because they don't have the relevant qualifications, and it would cost too much time and expense for them to retrain. We could actually relax the rules a little to make it easier for people to retrain. Looking at today's motion in a bit more detail, we support the idea of the Welsh Government and the Education Workforce Council working together to develop a school workforce plan for Wales. We would add the caveat that there needs to be input from people who have experienced problems in entering teaching, or who entered the profession and then left it prematurely, so that any such plan is tailored to the needs of suitable potential teachers who have been unable to get into teaching or remain in teaching. We want to make it easier for schools to recruit teachers, and we think that a lot of common abilities are obviously going to exist with college tutors and with teachers at independent schools. So, it should be made easier for this group of people to get the required accreditation so that they can bring their skill set into the school classrooms. The Conservatives also mention a route into teaching for teaching assistants, or TAs. I've raised the issue of TAs in previous questions to the education Minister. I think there is sometimes a problem with TAs in that once they've been on the relevant courses and have got their qualifications, they find that they've theoretically moved up a level but they don't automatically get upgraded to that status in terms of their pay, and we end up with TAs of a certain level not being able to get jobs at that level, and that leads to some of them becoming cynical and wondering if they were only sent on these courses so that the companies or organisations running these courses got something out of it rather than the people who were being trained. TAs can be a valuable asset to a school. Sometimes, they could be as effective as some of the already qualified teachers, but they lack that basic thing: that piece of paper that says they have a certain qualification. So, I think a career path for TAs that allows them to enter the teaching profession more easily would be a very good idea. So, we support the Conservative motion today. We also agree with the Plaid amendment, because as Plaid state in their amendment, we do also have to look at the churn rate in the teaching profession, and I'm sure they're right to link problems with staff retention to the stresses of the job. In our view, this stress could be caused by many factors, but there are some that are quite common, including class sizes, and we agree with what the education Minister has said in the past - that we do need smaller class sizes. We also need to get away from too much of a focus on targets and assessments. Ultimately, when you have too many of these, they just become an objective in themselves. In other words, we end up with teachers training pupils to pass tests and exams rather than teaching them something useful. So, a final point is that it would help matters no end if educationists now spent some time thinking about writing curriculums, that, rather than being totally focused on getting pupils to pass exams, actually sought to teach those people something useful. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Welsh: Diolch i'r Ceidwadwyr am gyflwyno'r ddadl heddiw. Rydym ni yng ngrŵp UKIP yn cytuno bod yna broblem gyda recriwtio a chadw athrawon. I ryw raddau, mae'r materion sy'n ymwneud â'r broblem hon yn gyffredin i Gymru a Lloegr, ond ceir rhai materion penodol yng Nghymru hefyd. Mewn rhai ffyrdd, mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi gwneud bywyd yn anos iddi ei hun o ran recriwtio athrawon oherwydd gorddibyniaeth ar gymwysterau penodol. Oes, mae angen inni sicrhau bod gennym y bobl iawn yn mynd i'r proffesiwn addysgu, ond rydym hefyd yn gwybod na allwch fesur pethau, ac yn sicr ni allwch fesur pobl, drwy gymwysterau yn unig. Nawr mae gennym Weinidog addysg sy'n aml wedi gwneud y pwynt synhwyrol na allwn edrych ar ystadegau drwy'r amser; rhaid inni edrych ar bopeth yn ei gyd-destun. Rhaid inni weld y darlun ehangach. A chredaf y gallwn gymhwyso peth o'r meddylfryd hwnnw i recriwtio athrawon mewn gwirionedd. Felly, bydd y Gweinidog yn dilyn ei gwireb ei hun yn y mater hwn, gobeithio. Yn ein barn ni, mae gorddibyniaeth ar gymwysterau'n golygu na all llawer o bobl brofiadol mewn bywyd, y byddai rhai ohonynt o leiaf yn addas ar gyfer yr ystafell ddosbarth, fynd yn rhan o'r proffesiwn addysgu oherwydd nad oes ganddynt y cymwysterau perthnasol, a byddai'n costio gormod mewn arian ac amser iddynt ailhyfforddi. Gallem lacio'r rheolau ychydig mewn gwirionedd i'w gwneud yn haws i bobl ailhyfforddi. Wrth edrych ychydig yn fwy manwl ar y cynnig heddiw, rydym yn cefnogi'r syniad o Lywodraeth Cymru a Chyngor y Gweithlu Addysg yn gweithio gyda'i gilydd i ddatblygu cynllun gweithlu ysgolion ar gyfer Cymru. Byddem yn ychwanegu'r cafeat fod angen mewnbwn gan bobl sydd wedi cael trafferth mynd yn rhan o'r byd addysg, neu sydd wedi cychwyn yn y proffesiwn ac wedi ei adael wedyn yn gynnar, fel bod unrhyw gynllun o'r fath wedi'i deilwra i anghenion darpar athrawon addas sydd wedi methu mynd yn athrawon neu aros yn y byd addysg. Rydym am ei gwneud yn haws i ysgolion recriwtio athrawon, ac rydym yn credu bod llawer o alluoedd cyffredin amlwg yn mynd i fod gan diwtoriaid coleg ac athrawon mewn ysgolion annibynnol. Felly, dylid ei gwneud yn haws i'r grŵp hwn o bobl gael yr achrediad sy'n ofynnol fel y gallant ddod â'u set sgiliau i mewn i'r ystafelloedd dosbarth. Mae'r Ceidwadwyr yn sôn hefyd am lwybr i addysgu ar gyfer cynorthwywyr addysgu. Rydym wedi crybwyll mater cynorthwywyr addysgu mewn cwestiynau blaenorol i'r Gweinidog addysg. Credaf fod problem weithiau gyda chynorthwywyr addysgu yn yr ystyr eu bod yn canfod, ar ôl bod ar y cyrsiau perthnasol a chael eu cymwysterau, eu bod yn ddamcaniaethol yn cael eu symud i lefel uwch ond nid ydynt yn cael eu huwchraddio'n awtomatig i'r statws hwnnw o ran eu cyflogau, ac felly mae gennym gynorthwywyr addysgu ar lefel benodol nad ydynt yn gallu cael swyddi ar y lefel honno, ac mae hynny'n arwain at wneud rhai ohonynt yn sinigaidd ac i feddwl tybed ai'r unig reswm y cawsant eu hanfon ar y cyrsiau hyn yw er mwyn i'r cwmnïau neu'r cyrff sy'n cynnal y cyrsiau gael rhywbeth ohonynt yn hytrach na'r bobl sy'n cael eu hyfforddi. Gall cynorthwywyr addysgu fod yn ased gwerthfawr i ysgol. Weithiau, gallant fod mor effeithiol â rhai o'r athrawon sydd eisoes yn gymwysedig, ond nid oes ganddynt y peth sylfaenol hwnnw: y darn o bapur sy'n dweud bod ganddynt gymhwyster penodol. Felly, credaf y byddai llwybr gyrfa ar gyfer cynorthwywyr addysgu sy'n caniatáu iddynt fynd yn rhan o'r proffesiwn addysgu yn fwy hwylus yn syniad da iawn. Felly, rydym yn cefnogi cynnig y Ceidwadwyr heddiw. Rydym hefyd yn cytuno â gwelliant Plaid Cymru, oherwydd fel y mae Plaid Cymru yn ei ddatgan yn eu gwelliant, rhaid inni edrych hefyd ar y gyfradd drosiant yn y proffesiwn addysgu, ac rwy'n siŵr eu bod yn gywir i gysylltu problemau cadw staff â phwysau gwaith. Yn ein barn ni, gallai nifer o ffactorau achosi'r pwysau hwn, ond ceir rhai sy'n eithaf cyffredin, gan gynnwys maint dosbarthiadau, ac rydym yn cytuno gyda'r hyn a ddywedodd y Gweinidog addysg yn y gorffennol - mae angen i ni gael dosbarthiadau llai o faint. Hefyd, mae angen inni symud oddi wrth y ffocws gormodol ar dargedau ac asesiadau. Yn y pen draw, pan fydd gennych ormod o'r rhain, byddant yn dod yn nod ynddynt eu hunain. Mewn geiriau eraill, yr hyn a fydd gennym fydd athrawon yn hyfforddi disgyblion i basio profion ac arholiadau yn hytrach na dysgu rhywbeth defnyddiol iddynt. Felly, un pwynt terfynol yw y byddai'n helpu pethau'n fawr pe bai addysgwyr bellach yn treulio amser yn meddwl am ysgrifennu cwricwla sydd, yn hytrach na chanolbwyntio'n llwyr ar gael disgyblion i basio arholiadau, yn ceisio dysgu rhywbeth defnyddiol i'r bobl hynny mewn gwirionedd. Diolch yn fawr iawn.