§ 53. Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations she has received from industrialists about the standard of literacy and numeracy of school leavers; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsI have received comments from industrial interests and others in response to the Green Paper "Education in Schools", published in July 1977, which indicate a wide measure of agreement about the importance of basic standards of literacy and numeracy. I have asked local education authorities, in reviewing their curricular arrangements, to report on their policies for English and mathematics, and announced my intention to set up a committee of inquiry into the teaching of mathematics in primary and secondary schools.