Kirsty Williams: I'm very happy to make that commitment. What we know is that, actually, a very small proportion of students will ever pay back the loans that they have taken out to pay for their higher education—they are the top earning graduates, and actually a fee cut at this stage will benefit those individual students—[Interruption.] Well, no, it is a fact.
Kirsty Williams: I would also like to remind Conservative Members that both their colleagues in the UK Government and the Westminster Petitions Committee have rejected calls for a universal reduction in tuition fees as a result of the pandemic. The reality is that a universal reduction in fees or debt cancellation would only harm—harm—the quality of education and student services that our universities can...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. And I'd like to thank colleagues for the opportunity to discuss our higher and further education sectors, both of which I am incredibly proud to have worked alongside during these most difficult of times. And that is why, Deputy Presiding Officer, I am tabling the Government's amendment, which extends our thanks, as a Parliament, to the efforts...
Kirsty Williams: Formally.
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, you can't close the vote. You haven't asked me to vote, and I can't vote via the app.
Kirsty Williams: On amendment 1, in the name of Rebecca Evans, I vote 'yes'.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Mick. Firstly, on the twenty-first century schools programme, can I assure Members that work onsite continues, and has continued, as soon as regulations allowed that to happen? And despite the considerable strain on Welsh Government budgets, I'm delighted that the capital available to me to continue to support band B of that programme is unchanged. Even during lockdown, we've been...
Kirsty Williams: Laura Anne makes a very relevant point. At this time of year, at the start of an academic year, as a mum Laura, you well know the absolute inevitability of the cold; it is a truth like death and taxes that you will get that cold. But because of the heightened awareness, quite understandably, people are very, very anxious and it is understandable why, then, perhaps a member of staff may say,...
Kirsty Williams: Can I thank Lynne Neagle for her comments and her recognition of the role of local education authorities during this time, who have, as you said, been working tirelessly alongside their headteachers to be able to put provision in place that has led to the opening of all our schools for the start of this academic year? It's been a massive challenge and they have risen to it well. I'm very...
Kirsty Williams: First of all, with regard to digital learning, as I have said in answer to both Jenny Rathbone and Suzy Davies, we've invested heavily in ensuring that digitally excluded learners have devices and MiFi connections. Those devices that have been given out to children will be replaced with new devices in those schools that have given devices to children as part of our EdTech scheme. With regard...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much. You're absolutely correct: well-being is key. Learning cannot stick in a child who is distressed, and what we know is that the period of lockdown will have had an impact on all of our children, but that impact will be as various as our children are. Lockdown will have been a very unhappy period for some of our children, and that will need to be addressed. We know that for...
Kirsty Williams: I've had reports, for instance, of parents gathering closely together without socially distancing at the school gate. That's a simple thing we can avoid doing—that we can avoid doing. It is particularly important that staff in our schools remember to socially distance themselves from other members of staff. We have an incident where the senior management of a school is currently...
Kirsty Williams: Could I make it absolutely clear that the information that I have to date regarding COVID-positive cases in school at this stage relates to the infection being acquired outside of the school premises? I think that's really important to state. Where we've had children testing positive for COVID, that is usually part of a family grouping and, where we have had adults testing positive for COVID...
Kirsty Williams: It's quite a long list of questions—I'll try and rattle through them as quickly as possible. Can I begin, though, by thanking Suzy Davies for her recognition of the tremendous efforts that have gone on in the education workforce in its entirety during this time? I'm very grateful to her for recognising that. Can I assure her that keeping education open is a priority across the Government,...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Colleagues, learners in Wales have been going back to nursery, schools and colleges over the last two weeks, and I want to thank them, teachers, tutors and all education staff for the way in which they have dealt with and, indeed, are still dealing with COVID-19. I want to thank them for their hard work, their resilience and their co-operation as...
Kirsty Williams: Of course. Alongside our new curriculum, we are moving purposely into a new era for education, and I want to thank, once again, and put on record, my support for those teachers, teaching assistants, school support staff and further education and higher education staff that have made all of this possible during this most unprecedented time. Diolch.
Kirsty Williams: The number of vulnerable children attending school has been discussed at length during this debate and has increased as lockdown progressed. That is something that is not unique to Wales, and our experience in persuading parents of vulnerable children to send their children into our hubs is one that was mirrored in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland. I have to acknowledge it took until we...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Mr Melding. I would like to begin by thanking the CYPE committee for bringing the debate forward today. And I would also like to thank all the staff in our education settings, as well as our local authorities and other partners, for helping us to ensure the safety and well-being of our children and young people during the crisis. That has been, and will continue to be, my...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much. Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Can I thank Mick Antoniw and Suzy Davies for their comments this afternoon? Mick, you'll be aware that you are correct with regard to the discrepancy, for which I apologise. The error is unfortunate indeed, given that the notice was planned to coincide with the end of the summer term for the majority of schools and settings. However, I don't...
Kirsty Williams: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I welcome this opportunity to talk about the legislative response that we've made to the COVID-19 pandemic using powers related to the Coronavirus Act 2020. As you and all Members of the Senedd will know, these have been, and continue to be, extraordinary circumstances and our response has had to acknowledge that. We have worked hard to ensure that the actions that...