HL Deb 10 June 1985 vol 464 c1122WA
Lord Swinfen

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps are being taken at present in schools to educate children about the problems caused to people who suffer from physical, sensory or mental disability and/or handicap and the ways in which these problems may be alleviated, and what steps are being taken to improve this education.

The Earl of Swinton

A variety of approaches has been adopted. Sometimes these issues form part of personal and social education and sometimes they are treated as an aspect of health education; and attempts to increase pupils' awareness are also made in school assemblies and within programmes of community service. In the recent White Paper,Better Schools (Cmnd 9469), the Government have drawn attention to the purposes of learning at school, one of which is to help pupils to understand the interdependence of individuals. It is for local education authorities and individual schools to consider in detail how that aim should be met.