§ 10. Patrick Mercer (Newark) (Con)If he will make a statement on progress in implementing his Department's response to the mathematics inquiry report published by Professor Adrian Smith. [187704]
§ The Minister for School Standards (Mr. David Miliband)Since publication of the Government response to the Smith inquiry on 28 June, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has begun work on curriculum and qualification reforms. The School Teachers Review Body has been asked to advise on pay for senior mathematics teachers. The hon. Gentleman will know that the Government have announced increased training bursaries, and that golden hello incentives for mathematics teachers will also be introduced.
§ Patrick MercerI am grateful to the Minister for that reply. From what I have seen in schools across my constituency—in Newark, Retford, Tuxford and Southwell—it is clear that technical qualifications are falling off sharply, especially in maths. That is despite the excellence being achieved in many other fields. The Smith report suggests that there is a shortage of 3,500 specialist teachers. May I emphasise to the Minister how important it is that we get those specialist teachers into the classroom? In that way, children from north-east Nottinghamshire can take their places in the hi-tech industry that is springing up in that part of the world.
§ Mr. MilibandI completely share the hon. Gentleman's commitment to making that a priority. He will be pleased, as I am, that more youngsters did GCSE maths this year, and did well in it. That is an important building block for the future, as the Smith inquiry noted. He will be pleased also that there are now 152 specialist schools with a specialism in maths and computing. That is also important.
856 However, the hon. Gentleman can take direct comfort, and a sense that things are moving in the right direction, from the startling figures on the numbers of people being recruited into teacher training who want to teach maths, and who then go on to work in schools. I shall write to the hon. Gentleman with the figures on maths teacher recruitment both in initial teacher training and as a result of the graduate teacher programme, which brings people in mid-career into teaching. The problem has not been cracked fully, but I think that he will be very impressed by the direction in which the figures are going.
§ Mr. Kelvin Hopkins (Luton, North) (Lab)I congratulate the Government on being the first in generations to take mathematics education seriously. Does my hon. Friend agree that we are still suffering a hangover from the years of Tory neglect of mathematics education?
§ Mr. MilibandI am tempted to blame my grades in maths and further maths on the previous Government, but I might be pushing my luck a bit too far. I tried to take maths seriously at school, but found that it was not quite my forte. I hope that it can be a source of cross-party commitment that maths and technical studies are essential to the future of the country, and that the recruitment of teachers and the development of the right curricula are critical to that.