§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many British Sign Language tutors there are in the UK; and what are their qualifications. [60125]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThere are no centrally held statistics on the number of British Sign Language tutors. However, inquiries indicate that there are around 800 tutors, but details of the level of qualifications held are not known.
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Start date Title of consultation Number of responses 26 June 2001 Professional Duties of Advanced Skills Teachers 32 24 July 2001 Employment of Teachers who have successfully completed their course of teacher training but have not passed their skills test 10 11 June 2001 Teachers' Professional Development—Standards Framework Consultation 53 11 June 2001 Teachers' Professional Development Division—Development Portfolio Consultation 20 9 July 2001 Extending the Use of Parenting Orders 120 30 July 2001 Draft Regulations Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as Amended by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 202 31 August 2001 Registration and Monitoring of Independent Schools 422 18 September 2001 Consultation on targets for English and mathematics at Key Stage 20 in 2004 206 8 October 2001 City Academies: Arrangements for Pupils with SEN and Disabilities 37 5 October 2001 Expert support for the development of Foundation Stage Practice 166 1 September 2001 White Paper: Consultation on School Admissions 480 1 September 2001 White Paper: Consultation on Exclusion Appeal Panels 220 1 September 2001 White Paper: The Way Forward—A modernised Framework for School Governance 4,385 1 September 2001 Better Beginnings—Improving quality and increasing provision in early years education and child care 315 11 June 2001 Guidance on Producing a Portfolio 49 27 June 2001 Education Development Plans from 2002—draft guidance 85 23 November 2001 Teachers' Pay Reform—Performance Pay Progression Grant 70 6 November 2001 Teaching Fellowship Scheme (Excellence Fellowship Awards) 67 2 November 2001 Consultation on Proposals arising from the Treasury Review of I11 Health Retirement 78 24 September 2001 16–19 Organisation—Organisation and Inspection 332 5 September 2001 Schools White Paper: Achieving Success 73 12 October 2001 Modernisation of Higher Education Student Support 70 25 November 2001 Building a Strategy for Children and Young People—Children's Consultation 518 25 November 2001 Building a Strategy for Children and Young People—Young People's Consultation 643 25 November 2001 Building a Strategy for Children and Young People—Adults 253 18 December 2001 Review of Arts and Humanities Research Funding 117 19 December 2001 Review of Learning Partnerships 138 26 June 2001 July European Commission Memorandum on Lifelong Learning 250 14 January 2002 Accessible Schools: Planning to increase access to schools for disabled pupils 144
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to offer British Sign Language as an option for an additional language as a vocational certificate of education or an advanced vocational certificate of education. [60126]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisResponsibility for offering vocational qualifications, and optional units within those qualifications, lies with the awarding bodies. There are no current plans to offer BSL within Foundation and Intermediate GNVQs, advanced vocational certificates of education, or within the new GCSEs in vocational subjects being introduced in September 2002. However, BSL qualifications are offered by the Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People (CACDP). A range of BSL qualifications offered by CACDP, and included in the Department's list of qualifications approved for use in schools and colleges by pupils and students aged pre-16, 16 to 18 and over 18, will be available from August 2002.