HC Deb 18 April 1988 vol 131 cc287-8W
Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to the reasons why Russian is no longer taught at A-level in state schools in inner London; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold

Individual schools and local authorities decide which A-level subjects they wish to offer. The Government's policy for the diversification of modern language teaching in schools should, however, lead to an increase in the number of state schools offering Russian at both GCSE and A-level.

Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make it his policy to encourage the teaching of Russian in state schools.

Mrs. Rumbold

The statement of policy, "Modern Languages in the School Curriculum" published in January by the Secretaries of State for Education and Science and for Wales encouraged a greater diversity of languages offered in the school curriculum. Russian, together with German, Italian and Spanish, should be one of the languages to benefit most from this policy. The Government are providing grants for pilot projects in some local education authorities in England to prepare and implement plans for diversification.

Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he has taken to implement the proposals of the Annan report on the teaching of Russian.

Mrs. Rumbold

The Annan report entitled, "The Teaching of Russian" was published 28 years ago and made recommendations about examinations, teaching materials and pupil visits to the Soviet Union. These are matters for examining bodies and local education authorities.