Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Mae’n bleser gen i gynnig gwelliannau 2 a 3 yn enw Plaid Cymru. A gaf i ddiolch i’r Ceidwadwyr am ddod â’r ddadl yma gerbron y prynhawn yma? Rydw i’n meddwl nad ŷm ni yn trafod addysg bellach yn ddigonol—fan hyn yn y Siambr, beth bynnag. Nid ydw i’n teimlo bod presenoldeb addysg bellach beth, efallai, y dylai hi fod, ac rydw i yn meddwl bod hwn yn gyfle pwysig i ni. Efallai ein bod ni i gyd yn euog o ryw ddiffyg parch cydradd efallai o ran yr hyn yr ydym ni’n trio ei gyflawni i’r sector o’i gymharu ag addysg academaidd. Mae hwn yn sicr yn gyfle inni wyntyllu ambell agwedd o’r pwnc yma.

Rydw i’n siomedig na fydd y Ceidwadwyr yn cefnogi ein hail welliant ni, sef gwelliant 3, oherwydd mi gyfeiriwyd at gonsensws o gwmpas Hazelkorn. Wel, mae’r hyn yr ŷm ni’n ei ddweud i bob pwrpas yn dod o’r hyn y mae Hazelkorn wedi ei ddweud, a bod angen symud i well cydbwysedd o gystadleuaeth a rheoleiddio—dyna mae’n ei ddweud yn adroddiad Hazelkorn. Ond dyna ni, mi gawn ni’r ddadl yna rywbryd eto yng nghwrs y drafodaeth o gwmpas y darn yna o waith.

Now, I’m from a generation, of course—or my parents were from a generation—where education was about getting your O-levels. Yes, I was the last year that stood or sat the O-level. You get your O-level, you get your A-level, you get to university and you get your degree. To be brutally honest, I haven’t made much practical use of the degree that I got other than sticking it on a cv to say that I had a degree. But now that I’m a father—. Oh yes, don’t tell my lecturers that. I’m seeing a few lecturers looking at me—. There we are. But now that I’m a father, of course, and the eldest is getting through secondary school, you do start thinking about the options that are out there and, all of a sudden, of course, you realise, having come from maybe that sort of background myself, where you just saw the one direction, that there is a breadth—a plethora—of opportunities out there that I’m sure isn’t appreciated generally, certainly by young people, I’d imagine, to the extent that we would all wish. Very often, it takes something quite stark to really hit home and to realise not only the options that are there but the real value of many of those options, compared to maybe what some of us have perceived in the past as being getting a degree—if you want to get on, you get a degree.

One of those moments last year was the work that the Sutton Trust carried out—research into the earning potential of university graduates compared to apprentices—which found that top apprentices can expect to earn thousands more in their lifetime than many undergraduates, particularly from non-Russell Group universities, would. The report found that those who opt to study for a level 5 higher apprenticeship will earn £1.5 million during the course of their career, more than graduates from some of those universities, who could expect to earn £1.4 million. So, higher apprenticeships at level 5 result in greater lifetime earnings than undergraduate degrees and, of course, without much of the debt that, unfortunately, comes very often with a higher education degree. The earning potential of an advanced apprenticeship at level 3 is still slightly better than that of someone whose highest qualification is at A-level. We’ve heard a lot about the general benefits of FE, and we know that they’re vast, of course. But the perception is still there—too strongly, I believe—around the value of FE compared to HE. That was underlined again in a YouGov survey last year: 68 per cent rated higher education as the best option, only 7 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds considered apprenticeships right for them, and 51 per cent of adults said they’d like their child to go into higher education, versus 20 per cent who preferred an apprenticeship. Now, I know I’m going on about apprenticeships, and that that only represents a small part of FE—I fully appreciate that—but I think you get the point I’m trying to make.

So, clearly, there’s a need for better promotion—for the lack of a better word—of the benefits of further education and a vocational pathway. Promoting parity of esteem needs to be there, certainly in terms of this motion before us today. I’m actually hoping that that could be one of the big legacies of this Assembly, and maybe a legacy of this Minister, that we actually move more decisively in that direction. Now—I’m quite startled, actually, that I have only got 30 seconds left. [Interruption.] Yes. So, Hazelkorn: as was recognised in the statement last week, there are various sectors and providers that are regulated and funded in different ways by different bodies, and new types of providers have emerged as well, of course. It does lead to unhelpful competition, I would say, between education providers, and we do need a clearer strategy and better co-ordination. That’s the thrust, of course, of our second amendment. I was heartened by the statement last week, but we need to advance that agenda and create some momentum behind this, which, hopefully, this debate will help us achieve.