HC Deb 11 March 2002 vol 381 cc763-4W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many university lecturers have been dismissed for incompetence in each year since 1990; what steps are being taken to improve the quality of undergraduate teaching; and if she will make a statement. [39947]

Margaret Hodge

The employment of lecturers is a matter for individual universities and no statistics are collected centrally on the number of lecturers dismissed or the reasons given for dismissal.

We are continuing to work closely with the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Quality Assurance Agency to ensure that revised systems are put in place to monitor and improve teaching quality. We have also requested that HEFCE produces, by July 2002, a strategic plan for enhancing the quality of teaching.