§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if the proposed "parents' charter" will allow parents the right to insist that their children be taught a Scottish certificate of education subject in the school of their catchment area rather than be forced to accept the transfer of pupils to another school;
(2) what provisions exist to allow parents to have their childen study Scottish certificate of education subjects at the appropriate school in their catchment area rather than see them transferred to another school because of a lack of teachers in those particular Scottish certificate of education subjects.
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§ Mr. Alexander FletcherIt is for the education authorities to decide, in the light of their needs and resources, on the courses to be offered at secondary schools under their management. In my right hon. Friend's consultative document "Admission to School—A Charter for Parents" issued in March this year, he made it clear that with the rapid decline in school rolls it would in the future become progressively more difficult to offer in all schools as wide a range of courses as is now available; and that it is not too early for education authorities to consider how their schools can, by specialising in certain subjects, particularly at S5 and S6, still offer a good range of choice to pupils.