§ 28. Mr. Mitchisonasked the Minister of Education what is his policy regarding the recommendations relating to schools in the Report on Biological Research, printed in Appendix B of Command 630 Paper No. 1920; whether he accepts the recommendation that the time is now ripe for an investigation of the school curriculum for biology; and what steps he proposes to take to implement that recommendation.
§ Sir E. BoyleI would refer the hon. and learned Member to the Answer I gave the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Mr. Boyden) on 24th January.
§ Mr. MitchisonIs the Minister not yet in a position to say when he intends to accept the recommendations?
§ Sir E. BoyleAs I told the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland, the position is that Her Majesty's Inspectors and the Curriculum Study Group will take note of these recommendations, both generally and in the particular context of the studies of school science and mathematics teaching sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation. I am not in a position to say more than that at the moment, but I am entirely seized of the importance and significance of this matter.
§ Mr. MitchisonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that what was asked for in this very weighty Report was a very thorough investigation of the curriculum, and not just the kind of thing he has described?
§ Sir E. BoyleI can tell the hon. and learned Member for Kettering (Mr. Mitchison) that Her Majesty's Inspectors and the Secondary School Examinations Council are also associated with the work of a committee recently set up under the joint auspices of the Royal Society and the Institute of Biology to review the whole subject of education in biology.