§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on careers education for 11 to 14-year-olds.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe foundations of careers education must he laid from primary age onwards. Pupils need to develop over time an understanding of the world of work, its challenges and satisfactions, and the choices and decisions that lie ahead of them in their school careers and beyond.
The Government's thinking on careers education was set out more fully in "Working Together for a Better Future", copies of which are in the Library.
The publication of this document in April 1987 marked the launch by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Education and Science, for Employment and for Wales of their joint initiative on careers education and guidance, which affirms the key place of careers education in the school curriculum. Our commitment to careers education is reflected also in the eligibility of in-service teacher training under this heading for LEA training grants as a national priority.