§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the(a) number and (b) cost of family literacy and numeracy initiatives in the last 12 months. [14219]
§ John HealeyFamily literacy and numeracy is a key element of Skills for Life, the national strategy for adult literacy and numeracy, which was launched in March 2001 by the Prime Minister. This is a national initiative to enable parents and their children to improve their literacy and numeracy skills, learning together.
Funding of £7 million through the Standards Fund will reach up to 20,000 families in 2001–02. An additional sum of £10 million will also be made available in 2001–02 to widen access to family literacy and numeracy programmes to reach at least 64,000 parents and 28,000 children.
§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the number of children who are not educationally sub-normal and who left school in each of the last five years unable to(a) read and write and (b) undertake simple arithmetic; and if she will make a statement. [14069]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe number and percentage of 15 year olds achieving, and not achieving, a GCSE pass (A*- G) in English or Mathematics in the last five years are listed in the following tables.
Number and percentage of pupils achieving A*-G in maths or English Percentage Number English Maths English Maths 1996–97 89 87 522,221 510,486 1997–98 89 87 511,936 500,432 1998–99 90 89 522,874 517,955 1999–2000 91 90 528,157 522,353 2000–011 91 90 622,246 615,408 1 2001 figures are based on provisional data
Number and percentage of pupils not achieving A*—G in maths or English Percentage Number English Maths English Maths 1996–97 11 13 64,544 76,279 1997–98 11 13 63,273 74,777 1998–99 10 11 58,097 63,906 1999–2000 9 10 52,235 58,039 2000–011 9 10 54,340 60,378 12001 figures are based on provisional data
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of literacy problems in England in the last three years; and what progress she has made with tackling illiteracy in that period. [13516]
§ John Healey[holding answer 14 November 2001]: Lord Moser's 1999 Report, "A Fresh Start", notes that perhaps as many as 7 million people (roughly one in five adults) in England have difficulties with functional literacy and numeracy. We are commissioning a new survey next year to provide an up-to-date assessment of the scale of basic skills need in England.
859WThe Government are fully committed to helping those who do not have adequate literacy skills. For adults, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minster launched Skills for Life, the national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy in England on 1 March 2001. New national standards, a core curriculum for literacy and numeracy, teacher training and national tests in literacy and numeracy are all now available nationally after a successful pilot. A national promotional campaign is currently boosting demand. We are working across Government and with key partner organisations to ensure that all those who can help adults with literacy and numeracy skills needs are able to do so. Our target is that 750,000 adults improve their literacy and numeracy by 2004. More than 70,000 adults have already gained literacy and numeracy qualifications since April 2001.
We are also committed to raising literacy standards for all children. The national literacy strategy. introduced in all primary schools in September 1998. is raising literacy standards for all primary aged pupils. This year 75 per cent. of 11 year olds achieved Level 4 or above in the Key Stage 2 English tests, a 10 per cent. point improvement since 1998. Literacy standards are also rising consistently at Key Stage 1.