§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will name the green Minister for her Department and list(a) the green initiatives taken by that Minister in respect of the Department's functions, (b) the representations made by the Minister in respect of functions carried out by other Departments and (c) the input made by the Minister into consultations on the Environment Bill. [18643]
§ Mr. Robin SquireI am the Department's Minister with responsibility for green matters.
1195WThe Department works closely with other partners in the education system on environmental matters within school education, teacher training, further and higher education and the management of premises. The revised national curriculum, which will come into force for most pupils in September 1995, requires extensive coverage of environmental matters, particularly through scientific and geographical aspects. Recently the Department, jointly with the Department of the Environment, organised a conference on education about the environment which focused on the effective teaching of the environmental aspects of the national curriculum. In the last six months, the Department has issued guidance for schools on solar energy and on energy-saving measures, while guidance on the schools environmental assessment method is in preparation.
In 1993, the Department drew to the attention of further and higher education institutions the report of the committee set up with the Welsh Office to review the state of environmental education in further and higher education in England and Wales. Implementation of the report's recommendations is largely for the institutions themselves, but the Department is currently considering the proposal for monitoring progress nationally.