HC Deb 21 February 1996 vol 272 cc350-1
4. Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action she is taking to raise standards in primary schools. [14679]

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

The Government have introduced a coherent programme of reforms designed to raise standards in all our schools.

Mr. Lidington

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the leadership of the head teacher and the quality of classroom teaching are the keys to improvements in standards? Will she and her ministerial colleagues take the lead in seeking to improve those key determinants and encourage the teaching profession to reflect critically and responsibly on its contribution?

Mrs. Shephard

The chief inspector makes it very clear in his report that the leadership of the head teacher in raising standards of public achievement is the critical factor. For that reason, the Government are devoting a lot of resources to improving the performance of head teachers who are already in post and to the headlamp programme, and it is why we shall be piloting work on a new qualification for head teachers with effect from September.

Ms Estelle Morris

Is it not amazing that the crisis in primary education seems to be everyone's fault but the Minister's? Has it not entered her head that constant changes in the national curriculum and testing, larger class sizes, crumbling buildings, too few resources and low teacher morale might just have something to do with the fact that half our 11-year-olds are under-achieving? Would the Government not make a useful first step towards finding a solution if they accepted that most of their policies were part of the problem?

Mrs. Shephard

It would be a useful first step for the Opposition to have supported all the Government's measures that have been introduced to improve standards. The Opposition have consistently opposed testing and assessment, regular inspections, publication of examination results and the greater involvement of parents. Those are just some of the measures that the Government have introduced to improve standards in schools. It would sit better on Opposition Members if they had supported those measures before making comments such as those that the hon. Lady has just made.

Mr. Pawsey

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the contribution of the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Ms Morris) would have been better received in the House if the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats had not opposed testing when it was introduced by the Government? Does my right hon. Friend agree that Opposition Members live in a time warp in which only permissive methods of education hold sway?

Mrs. Shephard

I am sure that hon. Members on both sides of the House will make their own judgment about which particular time warp is inhabited by Opposition Members. There is no question but that the processes of inspection and testing contribute to the improvement in standards in schools, and we set great store by them.