§ Mr. Damian GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance she has given local education authorities about the use of the terms CE and BCE instead of AD and BC; and if she will make a statement. [51593]
§ Mr. Ivan Lewis[holding answer 22 April 2002]: The national curriculum for history clearly states that "pupils should be taught to use dates and vocabulary relating to the passing of time, including ancient, modern, BC, AD, century and decade", and I would expect all local education authorities to be familiar with this statutory requirement. The terms CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era) are not used in the national curriculum, but schools are free to use them in addition to, but not as a replacement for, the traditional Christian dating system of BC and AD. There are no plans to change the existing statutory requirements.