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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science (Mr. Alan Howarth) : I congratulate my hon. Friend the Membefor Lewisham, West (Mr. Maples) on securing this Adjournment debate, and I congratulate his constituents on being represented by him. It is acknowledged on both sides of the House that he is an independent and determined representative of his constituents' interests in education and other matters. As a good representative of his constituents he cares very much about educational opportunities and that is why he is a strong supporter of the proposal that there should be a city technology college in Lewisham.
It is sad that there should have been the history of bitterness and disagreement that my hon. Friend has described. I deplore the obstructionism and the negative, ungenerous and reactionary attitude of the Inner London education authority in the face of proposals that are certainly intended to benefit children and young people in that part of London and would undoubtedly be to their benefit. It is sad that there should be that disagreement, and it passes belief that the assertion should be made that nothing should change in the face of the significant educational disadvantage which too many children have for far too long experienced in parts of London.
Against that background, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was pleased to agree with the Haberdashers' Company in its generous proposal to participate in establishing a city technology college in the present Haberdashers' Aske's schools. As legal proceedings are continuing in the Court of Appeal, clearly it would be inappropriate for me to comment on matters that are the subject of those proceedings, as you have already advised me, Mr. Deputy Speaker. My hon. Friend outlined the complex and disturbing history of those events fully and usefully, so I shall not dwell on the history of the proposal.
At the end of his remarks my hon. Friend asked me two specific questions. They are important and, of course, relevant to the circumstances that he described. I shall certainly ask my right hon. Friend to consider with great care the suggestions that he made. I should like to set the Lewisham CTC project in the context of my right hon. Friend's programme to establish a network of city technology colleges. All such schools are established in pursuit of the same broad aims, and have
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fundamental characteristics in common. Each school will also have its own distinct character, and the potential to make an important contribution to education in its area.Provision was made in section 105 of the Education Reform Act 1988 for the establishment of city technology colleges. These are independent non fee- paying schools, established in urban areas, for pupils aged 11 to 18. They are required to offer the national curriculum but place special emphasis on mathematics, science and technology. They are established and maintained by sponsors drawn from business and industry, and other sponsors such as livery companies. Capital funding is through a partnership between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the sponsors. My right hon. Friend supports the running costs of CTCs on a basis comparable with expenditure on secondary education by local education authorities in similar areas.
Why has my right hon. Friend sought to establish CTCs? It was the overall purpose of the Education Reform Act 1988 to improve quality and to widen parental choice in education. The city technology college programme addressed a particular problem in education in this country--the fact that children of average and below average ability have been performing less well in mathematics and science than those in some of our competitor countries--West Germany, for example. That problem has been particularly apparent in inner urban areas. There is an issue, not just of academic attainment, but of whether, in comparison with what happens in some other countries, our young people are adequately prepared for their role in the entrepreneurial and technological society in which we live. Opportunities are becoming more widely available for young people in schools to understand and experience the world of business and industry, and the changing technology, changing markets, and changing management practice in those environments.
Such opportunities need to be extended and reinforced. Ways of achieving that include involving business sponsors in the management of schools and approaches to teaching and learning that take account of the impact of new technology in today's world. City technology colleges are adopting those approaches.
The CTCs already in existence are making a determined and vigorous attack on the problems that I have outlined. Three colleges have opened. Altogether, 12 have firm opening dates for this year and next. Parents in the areas where city technology colleges have opened, or are about to open, are responding positively to the wider choice and new opportunities offered to their children. Admissions to the schools have been heavily oversubscribed in every case. The numbers of applications for teaching posts in CTCs have also been generally very high, and it is clear that many teachers are strongly attracted to the opportunity to teach in those schools.
The curriculum of a CTC will place particular emphasis on mathematics, science and technology, and the use of information technology to support the curriculum in other subjects. The organisation and management of the schools will also normally involve extensive use of new technology, familiarising pupils with everyday uses in businesses and other organisations. CTCs will nevertheless teach a balanced curriculum. It will be possible for CTCs to achieve those two objectives because they normally operate a longer school day than other secondary schools--and in some cases, a longer school year. That approach
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makes heavy demands on teachers and pupils alike, but, at the admission stage, the schools ensure that parents fully understand that entering a CTC involves a special degree of commitment to the opportunity offered, including a broad spectrum of opportunities post- 16.The Government's intention is that CTCs will demonstrate new approaches to enabling secondary pupils of all abilities to achieve higher levels of attainment, particularly in mathematics, science and technology. The schools will be exemplars. It is intended that they should build on the good practice that is being developed, but which has not yet been sufficiently widely replicated. CTCs will develop innovative approaches that other schools will want to adopt. As a result, we expect that standards will be raised across the system. I hope that Lewisham children will have the opportunity to benefit in that way.
Each CTC will be consciously part of the national network of CTCs aiming to make a significant contribution to this country's education. A CTC also has an important role as a local school. It will inevitably develop working links with other schools in its area. Those will necessarily include close and fruitful relationships with feeder primary schools. It will be important, for example, for primary teachers, pupils and parents to understand and indeed to "taste" what a CTC offers to pupils within its catchment area. Without such contacts and co-operation, parents and pupils will not be able to exercise a free choice or be prepared for the opportunities available.
CTCs will also seek to develop mutually beneficial relationships with other secondary schools and with local colleges, with a view to sensible sharing of facilities and joint teaching initiatives. In establishing CTCs, the Government have added to the diversity of educational opportunity in this country, on the basis that problems which have been with us for a long time need to be approached in a variety of ways, with opportunities given for experiment and innovation. Wherever CTCs are situated, and whatever the political views and priorities of the local education authority, it should be remembered that CTC places are open to young people of all levels of ability in their designated catchment areas, and that a new and exciting type of opportunity is involved.
It is, therefore, clearly against the interests of local children and the likely wishes of their parents if local education authorities adopt the attitude which some, sadly, have adopted of not only opposing the establishment of a CTC in their area but of ostracising it once it is established.
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As I said at the outset of my remarks, I find deplorable the reactionary, ungenerous, defensive and negative attitude of far too many in the educational establishment--whether they be councillors, officers or, regrettably, teachers--who have not been willing to be generous in their recognition of the attempt made by others who have taken advantage of the opportunity offered by the Government to exercise their democratic right to vote for independence in the grant-maintained sector. They have not been willing to recognise the generosity of benefactors such as the Haberdashers' Company, which is willing to give generous resources to the benefit of education in areas where all too often it has not been of the standard that we want for local children. It is absurd to deny local children the opportunity of a CTC.Like my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, West, I look forward to the establishment of the Haberdashers' CTC and to a new and exciting phase in its long support of education in Lewisham. That will be to the benefit of children in Lewisham.
Mr. Maples : I asked my hon. Friend two specific points, which he said he would discuss with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, about the withdrawal of closure notices and the splitting of governing bodies without someone else's consent. Does he agree that those methods of frustration should not be available to people who oppose these procedures?
Mr. Howarth : I understand my hon. Friend's strength of feeling on those two points, which are enormously important in the context of the events that he outlined. It would be wrong, however, for me to express a view on the proprieties or practicalities of the law. I am more than happy to undertake to draw those important considerations to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State so that he can think carefully about the appropriate policy. In the meantime, I very much share my hon. Friend's view that a CTC in Lewisham represents a splendid opportunity for young people there. I am sure that friends of education and children in the borough of Lewisham will look forward to the successful establishment of this important educational enterprise.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at four minutes past Three o'clock.
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