§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he has taken to raise standards in schools in Wales. [25310]
§ Mr. HainOur broad and vigorous standards agenda was set out in "Building Excellent Schools Together" (BEST), the Education White Paper for Wales, published in July last year.
We have introduced legislation to realise our objectives. The Schools Standards and Framework Bill proposes the legislative measures necessary to raise standards at primary and secondary level in both Wales and England. Amongst other things it provides for smaller infant classes, places a duty on local education authorities to support schools in raising educational attainment standards and secures the basis upon which these authorities will act to support schools in setting and meeting targets for continuous improvement. The Teaching and Higher Education Bill (currently in the House of Lords) will give teachers scope to lift professional standards through a General Teaching Council for Wales. The legislation proposed will also allow local education authorities LEAs and further education 332W institutions to make provision for post-16 students jointly to better meet students' needs and to reduce duplication of courses.
We have set out a range of challenging new all-Wales targets through BEST aimed at raising standards in schools in Wales across the board. Working in partnership with ACCAC and OHMCI the Welsh Office is also implementing an all-Wales strategy to raise levels of achievement in literacy and numeracy. We are providing additional resources to support schools in this work—£50.267 million for recurrent costs in schools within the 1998–99 local government revenue settlement, and £65 million of capital funding over the lifetime of this Parliament for much needed school renovation and repair work. We will also be making nearly £30 million available in 1998–99 through the Grants for Education Support and Training (GEST) programme.