HC Deb 21 July 1977 vol 935 cc661-2W
Mr. James White

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the action proceeding in Scotland on the matters covered in the Green Paper "Education in Schools—a Consultative Document".

Mr. Millan

The topics covered by the Green Paper published today by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Education and Science and for Wales—the curriculum, assessment and standards, the education and training of teachers and the creation of contact and understanding between schools and the world of work—are naturally of great importance to school education in Scotland as well as in England and Wales. Because of the differences in the education system, these questions are being approached in Scotland in a different way and in the context of the work of the Munn, Dunning and Pack Committees. The Pack Committee was set up in July 1974 to look into truancy and indiscipline among primary and secondary schoolchildren and to consider how the schools themselves and other services might best tackle these problems. The Dunning Committee was set up in November 1974 to review the assessment of pupils in the fourth year of secondary education, looking in particular at what might be the most suitable form or forms of examination or other measures of attainment to meet the needs of pupils of varying academic ability. The Munn Committee was set up in January 1975 to consider the curriculum in the third and fourth years of secondary education with a view to ensuring that all pupils receive a balanced education suitable to their needs and abilities.

I have recently received the reports of the Pack and Munn committees, and I expect shortly to receive the report of the Dunning Committee; all three reports will be published as soon as possible. I am very grateful to these committees for the time and effort which they have put into their work, and I hope that the publication of their reports will be followed by wide-ranging public discussion which will provide the framework within which decisions can be taken.

So far as the primary schools are concerned, a detailed survey of primary education is being conducted this session and next by Her Majesty's Inspectorate to produce a comprehensive evaluation of the quality of our primary schools.

As regards teacher training, many aspects of importance emerged from recent discussions in Scotland about the colleges of education on which I intend to make a further statement before the end of the year.