§ Mr. Thorpeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children are suffering from dyslexia to the latest date for which figures are available; whether he is satisfied that the local education authorities' specialist facilities are sufficient; and what plans he has for encouraging the development of such facilities and providing assistance for parents of such children.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many remedial education centres are in operation; and how many have been established since the publication of the Tizard Report;
(2)what progress has been made in the forward provision of remedial education centres;
(3)how many pupils at primary and secondary level are known to be dyslexic or to have specific reading difficulties as distinct from being generally backward;
(4)if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing the numbers of pupils at primary and secondary levels who have been receiving remedial education in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe information asked for is not available, but local education authorities in many areas have extended their provision of remedial teachers and remedial education centres in recent years, and I am satisfied that in general they are making as rapid an improvement as their resources allow. The forthcoming report of the Bullock Committee on Reading and the Use of English will no doubt focus further attention on reading difficulties.
338Wper cent over the period 1964–74 compared with 434 per cent. for Great Britain as a whole: