§ 27. Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what are the Government's principal priorities for improving standards in inner-city schools. [11754]
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§ Mr. Robin SquireThe whole thrust of Government policy is to raise standards in all schools, be they in inner cities or in any other part of the country. This means, above all, raising levels of pupil achievement, and in particular standards of literacy and numeracy, as measured by the national assessment and testing arrangements. Our aim is for pupils to achieve the highest standards of which they are capable.
We have a wide range of measures in place to help raise these standards. They include the national curriculum and assessment, Office for Standards in Education inspection arrangements, parental information, the improving schools programme and the development of literacy and numeracy centres, to name just a few. It would be wrong to single out three as being more important than any of the others.