§ Mr. ButcherTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration he has given to assisting schools to recruit on short-term secondment retired 205W teachers who will undertake the testing of seven and 11-year-olds in order to relieve classroom teachers of this duty.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Department has not given consideration to this particular issue. However, the review that Sir Ron Dearing is conducting of the national curriculum and assessment framework has the specific remit to consider how the tests can be made more manageable. Decisions on how schools might best make arrangements for the tests will be taken in the light of the review.