HC Deb 08 April 1986 vol 95 cc1-4
1. Mr. Shersby

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a further statement about preparations for the introduction of the general certificate of secondary education examination.

The Minister of State, Department of Education and Science (Mr. Chris Patten)

The programme of preparation for the GCSE is thorough and of high quality. Never before has so much been done to prepare all teachers for examination reform. My right hon. Friend announced on 13 March a series of measures to ensure the successful completion of the training programme and the provision of adequate resources for schools.

Mr. Shersby

Will my hon. Friend assure head teachers that, given the additional training and resources that we have made available, there is time available for proper planning by teachers, including an agreed syllabus? Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that parents of third-year pupils in my constituency will soon have to choose subjects?

Mr. Patten

I give my hon. Friend that assurance. I know of some of the concern expressed about syllabuses. There is no reason why proper choices should not be made on the basis of the information available, including the national criteria and the draft syllabuses that have been in schools for some months.

Mr. Beith

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that few head teachers or other teachers would recognise his description of the state of preparedness for the GCSE? Does he realise that most parents are not at this stage primarily interested in apportioning blame but are interested in ensuring that their children are properly prepared for the examination? Does the hon. Gentleman agree that postponement has now become a matter for much more serious consideration than hitherto?

Mr. Patten

Postponement of the examination would overwhelmingly lead to the very chaos which its supporters say they fear. Most fair-minded heads and teachers would accept that there has been more preparation for this change than there was for the introduction of the GCE O-levels or CSEs or for the raising of the school-leaving age.

Mr. Pawsey

Will my hon. Friend confirm that the onus for ensuring that this new examination functions effectively is on the shoulders not only of my hon. Friend or his Department, but of teachers and the LEAs?

Mr. Patten

I agree with my hon. Friend. We must make this important change work. I do not believe that we have an option. The Government have shown that they are prepared to play their part. I hope that we can all work to make this new examination the success that it deserves and needs to be.

Mr. Fatchett

Does the hon. Gentleman still not recognise the widespread anxiety and concern among parents? Would it not be a sign of strength rather than of weakness by the Government if they postponed the examination and allowed proper preparation and proper resources to be devoted to this examination so that those worries and anxieties could at last be eased?

Mr. Patten

Of course I recognise those worries and anxieties. Last week I sat through a debate on this subject at the conference of the Assistant Masters and Mistresses Association. I recognise that many of the anxieties expressed are the result of professional judgments rather than of politics. I do not believe that another option exists. I think that we can and should now work together to make this examination a success.

Mr. Greenway

Is my hon. Friend aware that this morning my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State told the Select Committee on Education, Science and Arts that teacher disruption made the introduction of GCSE less sure? Will my hon. Friend give an assurance that, despite that problem, this important educational reform will go ahead whatever happens, so that parents are certain that their children's education problem is solved?

Mr. Patten

We shall press ahead. I hope that in all the teachers associations and unions wiser counsel will prevail than was shown by some last week. We cannot have a national syllabus determined by the annual conference of the NUT.

Mr. Boyes

Is it not fact that parents, local authorities, teachers and students are concerned about the education system—in fact just about everybody except Education Ministers on the Front Bench. Is it that they simply do not care?

Mr. Chris Patten

That is a ludicrous observation. If that were true, last month the Government would not have announced further phase two training and said that we were prepared to allow schools to close next term for a couple of days so that training could be completed. We would not have made available the £20 million in addition through the education support grant for the extra cost of books and equipment.

Mr. Madel

If certain teacher trade unions continue to refuse to co-operate with the introduction of the new examination, will the Government have contingency plans ready to deal with possible disruption of the curriculum in September? Will it be necessary to ask the Associaton of Chief Education Officers whether it thinks it would be practicable to go ahead with the new curriculum in September?

Mr. Patten

I am afraid that if some of the teacher unions do what they claimed last week they would do, it raises far greater questions than the introduction of the GCSE. In those circumstances we would have to look at contingencies, but I hope that that situation will not arise.

Mr. Radice

We share the Government's support for the new 16-plus examination. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that not only the teachers but the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associatons, many local authorities and two out of the five examining groups have expressed strong reservations about the new courses going ahead as planned? Is the hon. Gentleman seriously telling the House that, without more resources and without more adequate preparation, it is fair to next year's fourth-year pupils to start work for the new examination in September?

Mr. Patten

I repeat that we have added to the literally unprecendented preparations which have already been made and which were agreed in 1984. I see no reason why every teacher should not have received perfectly adequate training by the end of next term. There are no GCE or CSE syllabuses for 1988, and in many cases the machinery which would be necessary to create them has already been dismantled.