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Mr. David Congdon (Croydon, North-East): It is not a very objective account.
Miss Lestor: I believe that it is an objective account. Has the hon. Gentleman read it?
Mr. Congdon: I have heard about it.
Miss Lestor: Clearly the hon. Gentleman did not go to a comprehensive school, so he probably cannot manage the book.
In England and Wales, 90 per cent. of children attend comprehensive schools; in Scotland, as we all know, all schools are comprehensive. We have only about 150 grammar schools left, and research has shown that the academic achievement of comprehensive schools is increasing all the time, as is their diversity. Over the years, different comprehensive schools have developed strengths in different areas, which is something that we all wanted, but the moment that we start creaming pupils off and making a judgment that certain children are likely to be more able and should have the opportunity to be selected for a different type of education, we shall weaken the possible academic achievements of the comprehensives.
Moreover--and this is an argument that we have not heard in the House for a long time--people who believed that they could judge by an examination or test which children would be the high fliers have often been proved wrong, and more resources used to be dedicated to those children who were picked, to ensure that the prophecy was fulfilled. I would deeply regret a return to wider selection.
There is a confusion between preference and choice. If schools are allowed to select a higher proportion of pupils, only the parents of children who pass the selection test will have a choice. That process affects other schools. The process of creaming off the best creates difficulties. I find it unbelievable that we are considering returning to a system that proved deficient in offering most of our children opportunities when the system of comprehensive education has been so successful.
Having expressed my opposition to selection and my fear of it, I shall now deal with exclusions and discipline in our schools. I am aware of the Secretary of State's views on discipline and I know that we shall have the opportunity to debate the matter in detail, so I shall not say much about corporal punishment and its place--
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I have every sympathy with schools and teachers who are called upon to deal with disruptive pupils. We are all aware of the difficulties that are involved. However, we should consider why those children are disruptive and the problems that they face. I imagine that poor little Rikki Neave, who was brutally killed and suffered so appallingly at the hands of his mother, was a disruptive pupil. Had he grown up, I am sure that he would have been described as a menace to society, but who would have remembered his background or his history?
We need to look more closely at why certain children are so disruptive. There are many explanations that I hope we will debate in some detail. It is easy to write off those children by looking at the end product without considering their background. Given what has happened to some disruptive children and what they have experienced, we should take great care when we talk about corporal punishment. The kids who will be bashed and caned will be mostly the ones who are already being bashed and battered. That is the big dilemma about discipline in schools.
I should like to refer to some research that Dr. Carl Parsons of Christ Church college, Canterbury recently presented to the Association of Metropolitan Authorities conference. He found that exclusions are a small, but growing problem. There was an 8 per cent. rise in exclusions last year and an 11 per cent. rise the year before. In 1995-96, one in 2,300 primary school children, one in 240 secondary school children and one in 100 secondary school children in London were permanently excluded. Inner London schools exclude many more pupils than elsewhere. Exclusions are mostly of boys aged between nine and 11. The research shows that there is a strong link between exclusions and factors of deprivation. I believe that there is a strong link between exclusions and a lack of hope for the future.
At secondary level, 40 per cent. of excluded children are sent to pupil referral units and 27 per cent. receive home tuition. At primary level, 25 per cent. of excluded children attend pupil referral units and 40 per cent. receive home tuition. There is a six-week delay to get excluded pupils into pupil referral units or home tuition, which amounts to two hours per week. If parents who took their children out of education offered them only two hours' tuition a week, they would probably be prosecuted. They would be told that they were providing insufficient education. It seems to me and to many of those young people--difficult as they are--that we have given up on them and abandoned them. We cannot afford to do that.
The reason why the problem is growing is complex. I have mentioned one or two factors. The national curriculum has not helped. In the past, there were outlets for many disruptive pupils such as woodwork or playing sports for long periods. Today, local management of schools and league tables have resulted in more competition between schools and, in some instances, the need to exclude disruptive pupils because they drag down the school's reputation. The general lack of resources means that there is less money to provide back-up facilities and specialist services such as social workers and educational psychologists.
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If the pattern of exclusion continues and children are taken out of education because their schools can no longer cope with them, we have to offer them more. If we do not, they will realise what some already say about them--that they are useless and they might as well leave school at 12 or 14 as they will never achieve anything. We are not providing resources for them or taking them seriously.
If exclusions continue, we must ensure that excluded children are given further opportunities. For many of them, it is a phase that will pass. Many of them get over it and return to education, but the tragedy is that one third of excluded children become known to the police within two years. That is because they are not occupied, so they wander the streets. It was never the intention that the behaviour of excluded children should become worse and that they should become known to the police, but that is what is happening.
The House must take seriously the issue of exclusion and what happens to disruptive pupils. I welcome the proposals that involve standards of behaviour and schools knowing what to expect of pupils. That is a sound policy and no one would disagree with it. Children need to know where they are and what is expected of them. Our expectations should be high. However, I believe profoundly that if there is more selection and some children are labelled more successful than others, the feeling of worthlessness will extend to many more children and resources will be directed not towards those who need them most, but towards those who are considered successful.
Mr. James Pawsey (Rugby and Kenilworth):
I am sorry that the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) is not in his place. He asked about the Ridings school and the local education authority. The answer to his question was on "Panorama" last Monday. I saw that programme and the answer given by the director of education was:
I welcome the Education Bill because it gives schools much greater power to select pupils by way of ability or aptitude without the need to obtain central approval. The Government do not insist that every school has a selective intake. The Bill simply ensures that local people, through the school governing bodies, have a right to decide whether to introduce a degree of selection.
My constituency has grammar schools and I know from personal experience just how successful they are. Those grammar schools have an influence far beyond their immediate environment. They influence the primary schools that are subject to the rigour of an 11-plus examination and to parents, who undoubtedly have certain expectations. The effect of selection and the added rigour results in higher standards in primary schools, which feed through to the secondary schools. The other secondary schools do not operate in some educational vacuum, but derive benefit from the added rigour. Therefore, the effect of the 11-plus and selection is felt throughout the school chain and not simply in the grammar schools.
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Clauses 54 to 57 make provision for the chief inspector of schools to arrange for the inspection of local education authorities. I welcome that new power. For some time, I have become increasingly concerned about the effectiveness of LEAs, which were first established in 1902. Since then, many changes have taken place within the education system and society at large. It is now time for the powers and responsibilities of LEAs to be the subject of a searching examination. Those four clauses go part way to meet my views. However, I have considerable reservations.
If an LEA is found to be failing, it is required to publish an action plan, but that does not go nearly far enough. The Ofsted report and the action plan should be the subject of a 90-minute debate in the House of Commons, which should take place in Government time. An Adjournment debate raised by an individual Member of Parliament is not long enough or good enough for the issues to be thoroughly explored; but a prime-time debate on a failing LEA would have the effect of concentrating the local authority's collective mind to a degree that might not otherwise occur.
If it is argued that there is insufficient parliamentary will or parliamentary time, I have an alternative suggestion: that the Select Committee on Education and Employment be required to consider the Ofsted report and the action plan and to ask witnesses from the LEA to attend, answer for their failures and explain their actions. I advance those two suggestions because the Bill as it stands does not have sufficient teeth to ensure that the Ofsted report is thoroughly debated and the action plan is properly implemented. It is not enough for the report and the action plan to be published in the pious hope that something might be done.
It would be a mistake to assume that all LEAs can be shamed into real and positive action. Those who doubt that need only look at the local ombudsman's reports and remember that those reports are not always accepted by local authorities. It is factually correct to say that, in a minority of cases, the ombudsman's report is not actioned by the council that is subject to criticism.
Like many Conservative Members, I get fed up with Opposition Members blaming the Government for every single error or omission in the nation's schools--that point was also made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State during her remarks. Labour Members conveniently forget that they and their Liberal allies control the overwhelming majority of LEAs and that it is LEAs that are responsible for administering the nation's schools. They exert a fundamental influence over the character of schools and the way in which education is delivered. As Chris Woodhead said:
"The local authority failed The Ridings school."
The director of education blamed not the Government, but the local authority.
"What counts is not class size but teaching method."
[Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] I am delighted to have the support of Conservative Members.
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