§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 4 February,Official Report, column 933, if he will provide details as to the way in which the £300,000 for research into dyslexia is being spent; and what plans exist for additional spending into the early identification of this condition.
§ Mr. ForthThe Department has provided £250,000 for a research project based at Harris city technology college which is examining ways in which information technology can assist dyslexic pupils; and £74,500 for joint research being carried out by the Hereford and Worcester Dyslexia Association and the University of Birmingham into phonological awareness in pre-school children and ways in which teachers can identify and teach children with dyslexia. The latter amount includes £43,500 which the Department has recently agreed to provide to enable the research to continue for a further two years until 1996. The Department is currently considering further requests for funding research into dyslexia.
§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children are estimated to suffer from dyslexia in England and Wales; what is the trend in numbers; and how the figures are collected.
§ Mr. ForthThe Department does not collect such statistics.
590WThe British Dyslexia Association estimates that approximately 300,000 children in England and Wales have dyslexia. There is no discernible trend in the number of children with dyslexia.