§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement outlining the progress made to date by his Department on implementing the recommendations of the Elton report.
§ Mr. ForthThe report of the committee of inquiry into discipline in schools chaired by Lord Elton was published in March 1989 and copies were sent by the Department to all schools and local education authorities in England. The report contained recommendations not only to the Government, but also to local education authorities, governing bodies, head teachers, teacher training institutions and other bodies. For its part, the Department has
supported through education support grants (ESG) 24 LEA projects designed to improve support services for the most difficult pupils (expenditure of £7.3 million over a three year period ending March 1993);supported through ESG 31 projects designed to improve school attendance (£7.4 million over a three-year period ending March 1993). Similar projects to a value of some £9.6 million are being supported in 71 LEAs under the grants for education support and training (GEST) scheme 1993–94;monitored permanent exclusions at maintained schools over a two-year period, starting with summer term 1990, under the national exclusions reporting system (NERS). The key findings from the two-year exercise were published on 23 April 1993;supported research at Sheffield university designed to 416W identify good practice in relation to discipline in inner-city schools and further work on the evaluation of intervention strategies used to combat bullying;required that all initial teacher training courses should include separate, compulsory elements of practical training in how to manage pupil behaviour, and that these skills should be a key factor in assessing a student's performance and competence to teach.