§ Mr. Nick GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the conclusion in the OECD Report, Education at a Glance: Indicators 2002, relating to(a) the impact on school lessons of noise and disorder and (b) boredom among 15 year olds with lessons. [79433]
§ Mr. MilibandThe OECD report gives a positive overall picture of UK pupils' engagement with school, with above-average scores against a series of measures. Noise and disorder were perceived as problems by 3 percentage points fewer pupils in the UK than the average across other OECD countries, boredom with school by 6 percentage points more.
These figures relate to the year 2000. We believe good teaching and a good curriculum are the best ways to engage and motivate pupils. We have introduced a wide range of strategies to improve teaching and learning, including our widely-acclaimed Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. Since September 2001 we have been implementing our new strategy to improve the attainment of 14 year olds (the Key Stage 3 Strategy). There have already been major improvements: OFSTED now rate nearly 70 per cent. of lessons as good compared with 40 per cent. five years ago. We are also making it a top priority to tackle problems of bad behaviour, including a 50 million.
Behaviour Improvement Programme from September this year to provide intensive support for schools facing the most challenging behaviour.