Thank you, Joyce. Actually, teachers' pay is devolved to the Government. So, if you have an issue with what teachers are paid, I take it that you should have a look at the front bench and take it up with the Minister himself. 

I do hope that the Government does look to ensure that teachers' wages are an issue that is dealt with, because we are finding recruitment to my area of mid Wales getting harder with the lack of affordable homes and available opportunities for these people. While recruitment in cities is attractive for young professionals, we need to ensure that Wales is an attractive place to work right across the country, both in urban and rural areas. We need a guarantee that all newly qualified teachers will get at least one year's employment in a Welsh school or college.

In rural communities, teachers are an integral part of the local community, and they should be valued for the immense role that they have in shaping our younger generations. Ever-decreasing school budgets are putting more and more pressure on teachers to deliver that high-quality education for less, and that puts a huge strain on teachers, headteachers and governors.

Finally, bureaucracy. This can be an overused word, but it is one that I find is said to me time and time again by teachers and others, along with 'overworked' and 'underappreciated'. The pathways into teaching need to be widened. For example, teachers in Wales need Bs in English and maths to teach in Wales. In England, they need Cs. This gives far more people the opportunity to train to be teachers. Many may consider a career in teaching in Wales, but just won't be able to qualify here because they didn't achieve a B grade when they were 16 years old. They may then choose to go on and do something else.

So, this does seem a backwards policy that restricts a number of amazing and talented teachers from teaching here in Wales, and we judge someone's job prospects and future career path on a test at 16. This is something that I think really needs to be addressed, and also to establish a Welsh education advisory service to improve employment opportunities and establish more pathways into the teaching profession.

I believe this—and a combination of factors—is affecting the recruitment of teachers, and that we need to seriously look at this. We need to deliver 5,000 more teachers across Wales in the next five years. Consistently, I hear Ministers in this place saying that they are trying to fix things. I hope that that is right, because our teachers are the people who help our younger generations develop the skills that they have to fix tomorrow's problems. Diolch, Deputy Llywydd.