My thanks to John Griffiths for yielding a portion of his time. This is an important debate to have, and I agree wholeheartedly that knowledge provides that route out of poverty. Members know this already about me, but I was on free school meals and the education maintenance allowance growing up and, before I came into politics, I was a bartender. I'm not sure if John remembers—I hope he does—but one of the first times I met him was when I was doing GCSEs and I had work experience in Welsh Government, and John was the Minister that I had that work experience with. It was at the same time that the 5p plastic bag charge came in. Maybe I'm embarrassing Members a bit in terms of my age, there. But, I think that was vitally important—as well the free school meals and EMA—to why I'm here today now. It's something I passionately believe in. 

There are two points I want to focus on very quickly here. Education is a route out of poverty, but too many aren't able to fully traverse that route, with barriers to education via the cost of the school day. Free school meals, of course, go a long way to addressing that, and the EMA is another way. I've made points in the past to the Minister and various other Members, and continue to make the point, that the payment should increase to £45. It's currently at £30, and it's been £30 since 2004; it was £30 when I was in receipt of it. So, I think it's vital now that we look at how we can facilitate an increase. And of course, travelling to school and the cost of travel is proving another barrier. We have got kids in some of the most deprived communities in Wales walking over an hour to get to school. And of course, with free school meals—again, very important—it's all well and good, but if the kids can't get to school to have those free school meals, it still presents a barrier. Until we solve the cost of the school day, then the system won't allow working-class kids, like I was and like John was, to flourish and reach their potential. 

And finally, very quickly, Dirprwy Lywydd—I know I'm testing your patience—I think we need to also have a bit of a culture change in education. What I mean by that is that we need to move away from the obsession with going to university. Apprenticeships should be on an equal footing. I know a number of people who have gone on to do apprenticeships who are extremely successful now, even though, and they would admit this themselves, they weren't necessarily academically gifted. University isn't the only route out of poverty.