English: Could I thank the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education committee for her warm welcome of Sir Ian's work? We will be unique in the entirety of the UK in offering a system that is both portable and equal to all modes of study. We've already talked about the importance of part-time students, but it's also right that we should be in a position to assist postgraduate study. It's very important for our economy and to recognise that for many students now, the ability to move on to postgraduate study is almost becoming a prerequisite in many of their fields of work. It's a source of regret to me that, at the moment, we're not in a position to operate a support system for postgraduate study. It's a missing link - it is absolutely a missing link - in the system that we currently have at the moment, and I receive a lot of correspondence from Assembly Members across the Chamber about that issue. This proposal will help us address that. We know that for looked-after children we have a mountain of work to do, and that starts at primary and secondary school. We can have the most progressive higher education student support policy for looked-after children, but, as we're often reminded by David Melding, if those children don't get the GCSEs and the A-levels they need, it is worth nothing. So, our support at the HE level will be seen as a continuum of the work that we're already doing with the pupil deprivation grant and with specific intervention programmes for looked-after children in our schools, so that we can increase the numbers that would indeed benefit from the proposals in Sir Ian Diamond's work, which I intend to honour and implement.
Welsh: A gaf i ddiolch i Gadeirydd y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg am ei chroeso cynnes i waith Syr Ian? Byddwn ni'n unigryw yn y DU gan y byddwn ni'n cynnig system sy'n gludadwy ac yn gyfartal ar gyfer pob dull o astudio. Rydym eisoes wedi sôn am bwysigrwydd myfyrwyr rhan amser, ond mae hefyd yn briodol y dylem ni fod mewn sefyllfa i gynorthwyo astudiaethau ôl-raddedig. Mae'n bwysig iawn i'n heconomi ac i gydnabod bod y gallu i symud ymlaen i astudio cyrsiau ôl-radd bron â bod yn rhagofyniad ar gyfer llawer o fyfyrwyr yn awr mewn llawer o'u meysydd gwaith. Mae'n peri gofid i mi, ar hyn o bryd, nad ydym ni mewn sefyllfa i weithredu system gymorth ar gyfer astudio ôl-raddedig. Mae'n ddolen goll - mae'n ddolen goll heb os - yn y system sydd gennym ar hyn o bryd, ac rwy'n derbyn llawer o ohebiaeth gan Aelodau'r Cynulliad ar draws y Siambr am y mater hwnnw. Bydd y cynnig hwn yn ein helpu i fynd i'r afael â hynny. Rydym ni'n gwybod bod gennym lawer iawn o waith i'w wneud ar gyfer plant sy'n derbyn gofal, ac mae hynny'n dechrau yn yr ysgol gynradd a'r ysgol uwchradd. Gallwn ni gael y polisi cymorth i fyfyrwyr addysg uwch mwyaf blaengar ar gyfer plant sy'n derbyn gofal, ond, fel y cawn ein hatgoffa yn aml gan David Melding, os nad yw'r plant hynny yn cael y cymwysterau TGAU a Safon Uwch sydd eu hangen arnynt, nid yw'n golygu dim. Felly, bydd ein cefnogaeth ar lefel Addysg Uwch yn gontinwwm o'r gwaith yr ydym eisoes yn ei wneud o ran y grant amddifadedd disgyblion ac o ran rhaglenni ymyrraeth penodol ar gyfer plant y sy'n derbyn gofal yn ein hysgolion, fel y gallwn ni gynyddu'r nifer a fyddai'n wirioneddol elwa ar y cynigion yng ngwaith Syr Ian Diamond, ac rwyf yn bwriadu anrhydeddu a gweithredu'r cynigion hynny.