§ 38. Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the progress made towards implementation of the Vernon Report.
§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the Vernon Report on the education of visually handicapped children.
§ Miss Joan LestorMany of the report's recommendations are addressed to the local education authorities or the schools. The most far-reaching recommendation was for plans to be made for the distribution, organisation and management of special schools and other educational services for the visually handicapped; and I hope that moves in this direction will result from the regional conferences promoted by my Department this year at which LEAs have been invited to review, with the voluntary bodies concerned, the needs of all types of handicap, including visual, within their region.
My right hon. Friend's predecessor announced in June 1974 his acceptance of the recommendation that in future it 566W should be a requirement for teachers of the partially sighted to obtain an additional specialist qualification after obtaining qualified teacher status. The number of full-time training places for teachers of visually handicapped has been increased this September from 14 to 20, and discussions are continuing on the provision of a new part-time course of training.
§ Mr. Edgeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will seek powers to abolish selective secondary education for blind and partially sighted children.
§ 39. Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to abolish the use of the principle of selective entry to secondary education for visually handicapped children.
§ Miss Joan LestorBecause of the small numbers of children involved and the highly specialised facilities and skills required for teaching certain subjects, the reasons for abolishing selection which apply to non-handicapped children do not necessarily apply to the handicapped. Exhall Grange School in Warwickshire, however, already takes partially sighted children with a wide range of ability, with a national intake for academic courses and a regional intake for other courses. We are discussing with the Royal National Institute for the Blind the future of their two grammar schools for the blind, including ways in which the ability range of the scholars might be widened, as at Exhall Grange.