HC Deb 02 November 1976 vol 918 cc1191-2
14. Mr. MacFarquhar

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will now reconsider the decision not to commission an independent full-scale investigation of teaching methods in British schools.

Mrs. Shirley Williams

I do not rule this out, but in general I am opposed to inquiries with terms of reference so widely drawn.

Mr. MacFarquhar

In view of the somewhat lofty manner in which my right hon. Friend's Department set aside as partial the evidence of Dr. Neville Bennett about teaching in primary schools, does my right hon. Friend accept that only her Department has the resources to institute a truly wide-ranging investigation into this subject, which worries parents almost as much as questions of curricula?

Mrs. Williams

I must say straight away that it was Dr. Bennett who congratulated my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State upon the way in which she interpreted his evidence to the House and deplored the way in which certain other hon. Members interpreted his findings. As regards the second part of my hon. Friend's question, I refer him to the answer that I have just given. There is always endless pressure for further inquiries in the education world. Sometimes it seems that we should take a little action.

Sir John Hall

Does the right hon. Lady agree that there is a considerable amount of disquiet about teaching in primary schools, especially when this so often leads to the necessity for secondary schools to establish remedial classes to deal with children who cannot write or read properly? Will she reconsider her decision not to carry out an investigation into teaching methods, particularly in primary schools?

Mrs. Williams

The hon. Gentleman will know that there has been an inquiry into precisely this matter—namely, the Bullock inquiry, which continued for nearly three years. It concerned itself precisely with reading standards in primary schools. With great respect, the hon. Gentleman's point makes my point for me.