Education Organisation and Teaching Methods (Hansard, 2 March 1976)

§ 8. Mr. Newton
asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will establish an inquiry into the results of changes in education organisation and teaching methods in the post-war period.

§ Mr. Mulley
I see no merit in such a wide-ranging inquiry.

§ Mr. Newton
Does the right hon. Gentleman not agree that there is widespread anxiety among many people in 1083 relation to not only secondary education but primary schools? In view of that and the considerable consequences which his education cuts will have, does the right hon. Gentleman not think it his duty to provide for a full stocktaking of where we have been and where we are going?

§ Mr. Mulley
The hon. Gentleman is asking his original Question over again. The public expenditure survey protects—this is the verdict of The Times Educational Supplement, not mine—the 5–18 year-olds. There is no cut-back on the standards in the compulsory sector of education. As I have already said in answer to other questions, we are conducting reseach and investigation over a wide range of topics within education. Frankly, I do not think that an omnibus inquiry of this sort would be of any advantage at all.

§ Dr. Edmund Marshall
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that he already has full information available on these matters, through the monitoring work of his Department and Her Majesty's Inspectorate?

§ Mr. Mulley
Yes, I am glad to confirm that.

§ Dr. Boyson
Does the Secretary of State not agree that there is widespread concern amongst parents in cases where new experimental methods have been introduced into schools without their agreement? Will he not follow the suggestion of Mr. Raymond Maddison, the adviser to the Select Committee between 1966 and 1970, that such methods should be brought in only with the agreement of the parents concerned and with the issuing of reports to them on the monitoring of what is achieved?

§ Mr. Mulley
The hon. Gentleman is very naughty. He is trying to tempt me to interfere with school curriculum matters which he knows are the preserve of local authorities and teachers. I think that tie hon. Gentleman is prone to exaggerate the effects of the so-called creative methods. As he will know, the Bullock Report made it clear that there was no substance in the generalisation that the promotion of creativity was being pursued at the expense of basic skills.