HC Deb 04 June 1980 vol 985 cc720-1W
Mrs. Ann Taylor

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his Department's policy towards the use of the initial teaching alphabet as a method of teaching children to read.

Mr. Mark Carlisle

The choice of particular methods of teaching reading is a matter for the professional judgment of those responsible in the schools and local education authorities.

Mrs. Ann Taylor

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children, in how many schools, are currently being taught to read by the use of the initial teaching alphabet; and what are the figures for each of the last 15 years.

Mr. Mark Carlisle

My Department does not collect this information. A sample survey conducted for the Bullock committee in 1973 indicated that the initial teaching alphabet was then used in about 10 per cent, of primary schools containing infants. There are grounds for supposing that this figure has since decreased.