§ Sir John Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received from leaders of the Roman Catholic Church about the proposals of the Chilvers report on teacher training.
§ Mr. ScottIn response to the request by the Government for the comments on the recommendations of the interim report, the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church wrote that the report's proposals were unacceptable because they put continued participation of the Church in the training of teachers in jeopardy and thereby the future of the voluntary school system.
In my recent statement I sought to allay these fears and to stress yet again that the Government recognise the importance which Roman Catholic parents attach to the religious ethos of Roman Catholic schools and that the Government have no intention of excluding the Churches from a direct involvement in teacher training or of ending denominational teacher training.
The Government have said that they wish to proceed by agreement as far as possible, and to that end I shall shortly have discussions with Church leaders and other major interests.