§ Lady Olga MaitlandTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what decisions have been taken regarding the time primary school trainee teachers should spend in the classroom.
§ Mr. ForthWe are determined that the training of primary school teachers should be more school-based and more closely related to the needs of schools and to the requirements of the national curriculum. We wish however to take into account the advice we shall be receiving from the National Curriculum Council and the Office for Standards in Education about primary education more generally. We have therefore set September 1994 as the date for the introduction of new criteria for primary phase initial teacher training.