§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether she has requested from local education authorities details of the provisions they are making for remedial teaching of children with special difficulties in learning to read, write or spell, both for those of school age and for those who have left school, respectively; and whether she will make a statement;
(2) what response she has had to her request to parents, local authorities, teachers' organisations and other interested bodies for comments on the report of her Advisory Committee on Handicapped Children concerning the guidance required by local education authorities on the education of children suffering from dyslexia; and whether she will make a statement.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasThe comments received from the local authority and teacher associations on the report "Children with Specific Reading Difficulties" were generally very favourable. My noble Friend Lord Belstead had a useful exchange of views with representatives of the British Dyslexia Association in January. He said then that there was evidence from Her Majesty's inspectors that local education authorities were making real progress in setting up remedial centres or in providing a remedial service through peripatetic teachers. Authorities have not been asked for details of the provision they are making for remedial teaching, but the Committee of Inquiry into Reading and the Use of English has asked primary and secondary schools for information about this.
My noble Friend also drew attention to other encouraging factors—the expansion of the school psychological service, new in-service training courses on the teaching of reading etc. and an Open University course, beginning this year, on reading development.