§ Mr. CoakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to fund Learning Mentors in all secondary schools. [150711]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisLearning Mentors are school staff who work with pupils to help them overcome barriers to learning such as bullying, truancy or disaffection.374W Learning Mentors help raise standards by re-engaging pupils with learning, and by freeing up teachers to concentrate on teaching. Learning Mentors are currently being introduced in secondary schools through the Government's Excellence in Cities programme, and through new Excellence Clusters. These two policies aim to raise standards in city schools and in other deprived and low-performing schools. By the end of the next school year, nearly a third of all secondary schools will have learning mentors as a result of these policies. Last year, Excellence in Cities schools saw an increase of 2.3 per cent. in the proportion of students getting five good GCSEs, compared to a 1.3 per cent. improvement in other schools.
An estimated 1,500 Learning Mentors will be working in secondary schools by the end of this school year, in addition to some 900 in primary schools. This will rise to over 2,300 in secondary schools by the beginning of 2004. Learning Mentors are popular with head teachers, with parents and with pupils. The formal evaluation has just begun, but we have already seen dramatic changes in attitude, behaviour, school attendance and motivation in some individual pupils who have worked with a Learning Mentor.
We announced in the "Schools: Building on Success" Green Paper on 12 February that a further four Excellence Clusters would begin in September 2001 and that more areas would be included over the next three years. This will bring the benefits of Learning Mentors to more schools in the primary and secondary sectors.
Schools and LEAs outside the areas covered by Excellence in Cities and Excellence Clusters may fund Learning Mentors from the extra money that they receive to reduce truancy and exclusion. In addition, the Connexions Service will bring in a universal service for all young people aged 13–19, including individualised support from Personal Advisers for those young people who need it most, wherever they live. Over time, the full Connexions Service will be delivered to young people aged 13–19 in a variety of settings, including in secondary schools.