Our aim throughout has been to maximise learning and to minimise disruption for our young people, and we haven't done that alone, of course. All our partners, all education staff in Wales, I want to thank for their extraordinary efforts over the course of the pandemic. We absolutely understand the extra pressure that schools face at the moment. I provided planning days at the start of this term to help consider the measures that would be needed over the course of these weeks to keep our people safe.

We're aware of the staffing pressures that COVID has brought; we continue to work, Dirprwy Lywydd, closely with local authorities and supply agencies to help alleviate this. The autumn term saw us putting 400 newly qualified teachers into paid posts in schools and I'm really pleased that we've been able to extend that this term as well. We've supported schools and other settings to respond to those immediate pressures, but we also need to look at the long-term effects, Dirprwy Lywydd, particularly on learners' well-being and progression, which some Members have spoken about. So, our renew and reform plan focuses on supporting a revitalised, reformed, focused and resilient education system that puts learners' physical and mental health and well-being at the heart of its approach. And that approach is absolutely central to our new curriculum.

Preparation for the curriculum continues, whether it's the work of the national network on design and progression, most recently the new resources on assessment, the significant investment in professional learning—. There's more to be done to make that as accessible as possible for our workforce, absolutely, and we'll work with them on that. And I'm looking forward to the conference I have with heads in a couple of weeks on curriculum preparation.

But we know as well, Dirprwy Lywydd, that many learners, in particular those in exam years, are experiencing—for reasons we would all understand—anxiety, and some feel disengaged from education. The funding of £24 million that I announced before Christmas is there to support learners in exam years to have the extra advice and personalised support that they will need. We've already committed, over the course of this financial year—. Actually, the figure is £230 million-worth of additional funding to deal with COVID, in addition to the funding of equivalent figures the year before that.

We've heard a number of Members today make points about protections in schools. As you heard me say yesterday, our clear advice from Public Health Wales is that we need a couple more weeks to be able to be certain of the pattern. We've been absolutely clear that that is our priority. I've heard more than one Member say today that learners in Wales have lost more school time than in other parts of the UK. I think a fair analysis, for example, of the data in Wales against the data in England, let's say, is that the picture is broadly similar and that all parts of the UK face a challenge of broadly similar proportions. The reality is, Dirprwy Lywydd, that the picture can't be analysed in detail. In England, pupil absences are reported in a voluntary survey and they routinely get about 50 per cent, 60 per cent, of their returns. In Wales, we routinely get 100 per cent, so our understanding is much clearer in Wales.

You heard me say yesterday, Dirprwy Lywydd, that, on 10 February, when the next review point comes, we hope to confirm that schools will then be able to start moving to their local frameworks—a national approach that reflects local circumstances. And I'm asking schools in the meantime to work with their local authorities, with their public health advisers, to prepare for that point.

A number of Members made a point about ventilation, including Heledd Fychan in bringing forward the Plaid amendment. I'm pleased that every classroom in Wales should, by now, have a carbon dioxide monitor, which helps staff identify areas that have potentially poor ventilation. We've provided significant funding at the start of this year to support school maintenance to respond to some of those challenges, whether it's new air filters and handler units and so on. The advice from TAC at the start of this week emphasises that ventilation is the most important intervention, and that, alongside that, there is a role for air cleaning devices in specific circumstances. In the majority of cases, simple steps like improving the mechanical systems or installing vents will help circulate the air, but, in those cases where that's not enough, the new advice from TAC supports the use of those additional air filters. But we'll publish guidance over the coming days to support our local authorities to invest in those where they need to.

Finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, on the question of funding, this is a persistent myth that the Conservative Party propagates, and I associate myself with the points that Heledd Fychan made about the broad comparability of investment on a per-pupil basis between Wales and England. The figures that the Tory party have been relying on to make this argument are now about a decade old or more—a decade. Members who've been here for that period of time will remember that, at that point in time, the Conservative Party was positively advocating a 12 per cent cut in the education budget. The figures stem from those days; they're not remotely current. The Education Policy Institute has told us that, in Wales, we're investing more and more progressively in the response to COVID.

I'll conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, by saying that we are, in Wales, extremely fortunate to have a highly professional and dedicated education workforce, committed to the well-being and progression of our young people, and I'm very grateful to everybody who's worked with us, and continues to work with us, to keep Wales learning and to keep Wales safe.