§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will give the names and credentials of the persons appointed to her committee on the teaching of reading in schools and the use of English language.
§ Mrs. ThatcherAs I announced on 18th May in answer to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, South (Mr. John E. B. Hill), Sir Alan Bullock, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and a former Chairman of the Schools Council, will be chairman of the committee. The other members of the committee have not yet been appointed—[Vol. 837, c.161.]
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if she will give an estimate of the proportion of children who are unable to read when they transfer from infant to junior schools;
(2) if she will give an estimate of the proportion of children who are unable 505W to read when they transfer from primary to secondary school;
(3) if she will give an estimate of the proportion of children leaving school at the age of 15 years who are unable to read.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe Department does not collect information which would enable it to make such estimates. The recently-published report of the National Foundation for Educational Research "The Trend of Reading Standards" which was commissioned by the Department, gives the most recent assessment of reading attainments, of 11- and 15-year-olds.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many local education authorities are now screening all children for reading backwardness at the end of the infant stage of education.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe Department does not collect this information. It is however common practice for individual primary schools to check the reading progress of their pupils regularly.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she is satisfied that teacher training colleges spend sufficient time on the methods of teaching reading; and if she is satisfied with the range of teaching methods their courses cover.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe committee of inquiry my right hon. Friend has set up will be consideringinter alia the role of initial and in-service training in improving the teaching of reading, and she would prefer to defer an opinion until she has studied its report.