§ Mr. Roy HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he has issued any guidance to local education authorities concerning early diagnosis of dyslexic children;
(2) what arrangements have been made for the diagnosis of pre-school children who suffer from dyslexia;
(3) what steps he is taking to support the role of local health and local education authorities in the teaching of dyslexic children.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe Education Act 1981 imposes duties on local education authorities to identify, assess and make appropriate provisions for children with special educational needs, including dyslexics. For children under five, the Act places a duty on health authorities to inform parents when they are of the view that a child has, or is likely to have, special educational needs and, after discussion, to bring that view to the attention of the LEA. Welsh Office circular 54/89 gives guidance to LEAs on special educational needs and stresses the importance of early identification of any difficulties. The national curriculum will apply to all children, including dyslexics, as far as is practicable.
§ Mr. Roy HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what advice he is issuing to local education authorities concerning the training of teachers of dyslexic children;
(2) what proposals he has to increase the number of teachers trained to teach dyslexic children.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe new criteria for the training of teachers, set out in Welsh Office circular 59/89, have been designed to ensure that students, on completion of their course, should be able to identify pupils with special educational needs or with learning difficulties; and that they should understand the way in which the potential of such pupils can be developed.
There is provision within the local education authority training grants scheme for the training of existing teachers to enable them to offer advice to colleagues on meeting the special educational needs of children in ordinary schools. A draft Welsh Office circular will issue for consultation shortly, offering guidance on staffing for pupils with special educational needs generally.