§ 22. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has for extending mentoring in schools. [50368]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisBy the end of this school year some 3,800 Learning Mentors will be working in over 1,000 primary pilot schools and 1,000 secondary schools as part of the Excellence in Cities initiative. An extra £19 million is being made available to existing Excellence in Cities areas to extend their Learning Mentor provision from September; and a further 12 Excellence Clusters will operate from September, serving smaller pockets of deprivation and bringing Learning Mentors to more schools. My Department also funds the National Mentoring Network to promote and develop high quality volunteer mentoring for young people, including support for peer mentoring in 150 secondary schools from October 2002. Together with the Home Office Active Community Unit, we are funding seven Mentor Points—one stop shops for those wishing to become or access a volunteer mentor—three of which focus on provision in schools.