26. Captain Pluģģeasked the President of the Board of Education whether the House will be given an opportunity of considering the outlines of the curriculum to be presented for general use in the schools.
§ Mr. ButlerIt has not been, and I do not propose that it should be, the Board's practice to prescribe a curriculum for general use in the schools. The local education authority or governors, as the case may be, are responsible for the curriculum of the schools under their control, subject to compliance with such provisions of the Board's regulations as deal with the subjects to be taught.
§ Mr. Edmund HarveyIs it not most desirable that there should not be any one curriculum imposed on all schools?
§ Mr. ButlerI have always said that we should have diversity in our educational system.
§ Mr. ShinwellSurely it is also desirable that the Board should have some views on the nature of the curriculum to be provided in our schools? In view of the fact that we are discussing the machinery of education and very little about its content, is it not desirable that the Board should express their views?
§ Mr. ButlerThe Board have published a volume entitled "Suggestions for Teachers," which has proved to be very useful in various schools in the country. It has also been the Board's practice to have panels of inspectors studying individual subjects in order to give advice and I feel sure that the Board and the new advisory councils will give all the advice they can with a view to improving the curriculum in the future.
§ Mr. George GriffithsDoes the hon. and gallant Gentleman who asked the Question want to stop local education authorities from having a voice in the preparation of the curriculum?