Technology (Hansard, 29 April 1988)

§ Mr. Kenneth Baker

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I are from today establishing a working group on design and technology. The group will advise on attainment targets and programmes of study for technology within the national curriculum for secondary school pupils. The science working group which we appointed last summer is making recommendations about technology for primary school pupils.

The design and technology working group will also advise on attainment targets and programmes of study for information technology, and on a framework for design across foundation subjects, for all pupils of compulsory school age. The working group's formal terms of reference which include guidance on the approach to technology within the national curriculum are set out below. We are grateful to Lady Parkes, a governor of the BBC and a member of the Secondary Examinations Council, for agreeing to take the chair of a working group on design and technology. The other members of the group are:

Ms. Krysia Brochocka—Educational design consultant
Mrs. Elsa Davies Educational Liaison Officer, British Institute of Management
Mr. Malcolm Deere—Education Adviser (Curriculum), TVEI Unit, Manpower Services Commission
Mr. Denis Filer—Director of Engineering, ICI plc
Mr. Terry Gibbons — Head of Design Faculty, Gwendraeth Valley School, Dyfed
Mr. John Hammond—Lecturer in Computing Science, City University
Dr. Philip Hunter — Chief Education Officer, Staffordshire
Mr. Ben Kelsey — Adviser for Business Education, Hampshire Local Education Authority and Director of the National Business and Information Studies Project
Mr. Paddy O'Hagan — Head of Faculty, Design and Technology, Northolt High School, Ealing.

The group will start work as soon as possible. We are asking it to give interim advice by 31 October and final advice by 30 April 1989.