HL Deb 09 April 1981 vol 419 cc677-9

3.28 p.m.

Baroness Faithfull

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, perhaps I may let the Minister know that when I set this Question down I had not read the Green Book on school curricula which has emanated from her department.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they give to educational authorities to ensure that school curricula include key subjects which are relevant to the future economic and technological requirements of the country.

Baroness Young

My Lords, guidance to local education authorities and schools on the school curriculum was published on 25th March. This recommends a broadly-based curriculum for all pupils up to the age of 16, and emphasises that school education needs to equip young people fully for adult and working life, particularly in respect of new technological developments. Specifically, we attach special importance to craft, design and technology in the curriculum, emphasise the need for pupils to become familiar with the use and application of computers, and advise that all pupils should continue with the study of science up to the age of 16.

Baroness Faithfull

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. May I ask her, first, whether her department is happy about the quality of teaching of languages; and, secondly, whether, particularly as regards EEC languages, languages are supplied by the school or have to be paid for by the parents?

Baroness Young

My Lords, what we have proposed in the document is that most pupils should study a foreign language, and we have made it clear that we are proposing some extra research into this matter, because this is clearly a question of how many should learn it and for how long in order for it to be effective. We still have a shortage of teachers of foreign languages, and this is also a matter for concern, as is the fact that most schools tend to study French and not all the other languages of the EEC.

Lord Taylor of Blackburn

My Lords, may I congratulate the noble Baroness—

Several noble Lords

No!

Lord Taylor of Blackburn

My Lords, may I ask the noble Baroness to congratulate her stall on the way in which they have consulted various bodies on this particular subject? It is vital, and they are consulting them and will be consulting them for some time.

Baroness Young

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord. I am glad to receive that question.

Lord Elwyn-Jones

My Lords, is all that is possible being done to encourage links and associations between schools and industries, if they exist in the locality of the schools? That is being done with great effect in some places. How general is the practice?

Baroness Young

My Lords, the department has organised 10 conferences in the course of this year—and we have had seven of them already in different parts of the country—with members of the teaching profession, local industrialists and members of Chambers of Commerce. This is one way of establishing local links and of enabling industrialists to understand what the schools are trying to do and enabling teachers to understand more clearly what industrialists require. We attach great importance to this, and implicit in the whole curriculum document is the need of the education service to be talking to a wider world.

Lord Avebury

My Lords, is the Minister aware that the decision that the Government have made that every secondary school will be equipped with a computer by 1982 is welcomed and will be a valuable help to the generation of children who will therefore acquire the necessary skills and experience in operating and knowing about the possible uses of computers? Would the noble Baroness consider a suggestion that I made some time ago that there should be an organisation analogous to the Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils established with a view to placing bulk orders by local education authorities and achieving the kind of discounts which have saved the universities some £5 million per annum on their purchases?

Baroness Young

My Lords, I note what the noble Lord has said. This is a matter for the local education authorities but I shall draw it to the attention of my right honourable friend.

Lord Parry

My Lords, will the noble Baroness accept that, despite all the advice on the curriculum and all the curriculum study carried out in schools and colleges, a great many teachers are concerned about those alienated products of our schools, the children for whom the curriculum has little meaning and who roam the streets of our cities and towns as truants in the first place and as malcontents later?

Baroness Young

My Lords, we are very concerned about truancy. No one in the educational world can be satisfied while those numbers are as high as they are. We have also emphasised in the curriculum document that, apart from the importance which the schools attach to academic qualifications, employers and others look for personal qualities of integrity, hard work and the ability to get on with others both for the good of the individual and for their effectiveness in the working world.