§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent developments have taken place in relation to the range and availability of tuition in Scottish history in primary and secondary schools; and if there are any changes proposed in the criteria.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate on Learning and Teaching in Primary 4 and Primary 7, which was published in August 1980, suggested various ways of improving the teaching of Scottish history and local studies. The Scottish committee on environmental studies of the Consultative Committee on the Curriculum is producing a series of short courses on environmental studies for the use of teachers, which include topics on Scottish history.
The Scottish Central Committee on Social Subjects has recently reviewed the place of Scottish history in the secondary curriculum and the publication of discussion papers is under consideration. A joint working party of the Consultative Committee on the Curriculum and the Scottish Certificate of Education Examination Board has recently completed a study of O-grade history and its report has been submitted to the parent bodies. A third field of study in Scottish history has been introduced for the certificate of sixth year studies for 1981.