§ Baroness Davidasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why they have not given a specific grant for book purchase in respect of the National Curriculum for 1993–94 under the Grants for Education Support and Training Scheme (GEST), having done so in 1991–92 and 1992–93.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Education (Baroness Blatch)Books purchased by schools for the implementation of the National Curriculum will be eligible for support under the 1993–94 GEST programmes for England and Wales. In England, grant will support expenditure of £85 million on in-service training, purchase of books and equipment and the provision of optical mark reading machines in schools. Individual schools will be free to decide the balance of spending between these items according to their own priorities. In Wales, grant will support expenditure of £3.3 million on information technology (IT) equipment for schools, training for teachers in the use of IT across the National Curriculum, and on books and other printed materials. Local education authorities in Wales should involve schools in drawing up their proposals and will be free to decide the balance of spending between these items according to local priorities.