§ 16. Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the implications of chapter 8, "The Education of Ethnic Minority Pupils", of the White Paper, "Better Schools".
§ Mr. DunnChapter 8 "Better Schools" develops the Government's response to the report of the Swann committee. The measures outlined there are designed to tackle the obstacles to achievement experienced by all pupils and to meet the special needs of ethnic minority pupils.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why he took the decision to rule out the possibility of increased grants for areas with a high proportion of ethnic minority pupils as recommended in the Swann report; and why he is not willing to make special arrangements for ethnic minority students by allowing them mandatory grants for study which precedes higher education.
§ Mr. DunnIt is open to local education authorities to seek grant aid under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 or the urban programme to support new initiatives designed to meet the educational needs of ethnic minority children. In the case of section 11, provided what an authority proposes is designed to meet the special needs of Commonwealth origin pupils, and is consistent with the Home Office's administrative guidelines, funding is made available.
Under the provisions of the Education Act 1962 mandatory awards can be made available for first degree and comparable level courses only. The Government are conducting a thorough review of the student support 423W system. Pending that review, and bearing in mind the considerable public expenditure implications of a change, it would be inappropriate to alter the legislation to accord more favourable treatment to one particular group of students.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what specific assistance he proposes to give to local education authorities to enable them to provide specialised educational facilities for pupils of ethnic minority groups who are underachieving at school.
§ Mr. DunnLocal education authorities already have the means at their disposal to respond to ethnic minority needs. The presence of ethnic minorities is one factor taken into account in calculating the additional educational needs indicator of grant related expenditure which underlies the annual distribution of rate support grant to local authorities. In addition, the Home Office supports under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 some £75 million of local authority expenditure on additional educational posts deployed to meet the special needs of Commonwealth origin children; £4.5 million is devoted in the urban programme to educational projects of benefit to the ethnic minorities; and in 1985–86 a further £1 million of expenditure is being supported by education support grants on innovative projects designed to improve the performance of ethnic minority children and to promote harmonious race relations in schools.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will invite representatives of the Commission for Racial Equality to discuss their study relating to findings in the Birmingham area about high rates of suspensions imposed on ethnic minority school pupils.
§ Mr. DunnOfficials of the Department are in touch with the Commission about this study, which was based on figures for the period 1974 to 1980 (since when the local education authority has reviewed its suspension arrangements).