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PE (National Curriculum)
Mr. Pendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of National Curriculum PE between 1988 and 1997. [30422]
Ms Estelle Morris: Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools reports to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, on schools' compliance with the National Curriculum, which includes physical education.
Mr. Pendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidance he has given to local education authorities on the requirements of the Education Act 1988 in respect of provision of physical education. [30439]
Ms Estelle Morris: None. However, the Government's advisory body on matters related to the curriculum has made available to local education authorities, schools and other bodies, a range of materials to support teaching of the National Curriculum for physical education.
Inspectors
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many inspectors have had contracts of employment terminated, or not renewed, by Ofsted in each year of its existence on grounds of incompetence. [30289]
Mr. Byers: This is a matter for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools. I have asked him to write to my hon. Friend and to place a copy of his letter in the Library.
Iraqi Students
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 13 February 1998, Official Report, column 440, concerning Iraqi students at British universities, what assessment he has made of Iraqi Government financial or other support for the Iraqi students who are not receiving United Kingdom funding or official Iraqi funding; and, of the 16 receiving Iraqi Government funding, what proportion are funded by the Iraqi ministries of (a) Defence, (b) Trade and Industry or equivalent, (c) Science and Technology, or equivalent and (d) Communications. [30390]
25 Feb 1998 : Column: 295
Dr. Howells:
No assessments of this kind have been made. Iraqi students attending UK higher education institutions who are not supported by funds from the United Kingdom are responsible for making any appropriate fee payments direct to the institutions concerned.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 13 February 1998, Official Report, column 440, concerning Iraqi students at British universities, what assessment he has made of the potential for studies undertaken by Iraqi students in each subject of study to be of assistance to the Iraqis' military, chemical and biological capability. [30416]
Dr. Howells:
Her Majesty's Government seek to prevent the transfer of technology related to weapons of mass destruction in the higher education sector through the operation of the Voluntary Vetting Scheme which is administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This scheme applies to post-graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from certain countries, including Iraq, and covers those scientific disciplines relevant to weapons of mass destruction technologies or the missiles to deliver them. Under the scheme, universities and higher education colleges are asked to refer potential students from specified countries who are seeking to undertake research in particular disciplines to the Government. The Government provide advice on individual applicants and the universities and colleges then make the final admission decisions. This is a voluntary arrangement and there is currently no law in place to oblige higher education institutions to contact Government over admission matters.
Mr. Levitt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if information produced as part of the New Deal promotion campaign will be available in British Sign Language. [30456]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
Information from the New Deal campaign will be included in the next two editions of the Public Scene video magazine, which uses the British Sign Language and English subtitles, and is sent to contacts working with deaf people throughout the UK. The editions will appear in April and October 1998.
The New Deal advertisements can be viewed with teletext subtitles that include a text phone number which can be used to obtain printed information about New Deal. Audio cassette and Braille versions of the New Deal young people's booklet are also available on request.
Mr. Sheerman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many modern apprenticeships are currently being undertaken in the United Kingdom. [30577]
Dr. Howells:
As at 30 November 1997, there were 113,900 people in training on Modern Apprenticeships in England and Wales.
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what criteria will determine
25 Feb 1998 : Column: 296
how money is allocated to reduce class sizes; and what sums he will allocate for this purpose to Gloucestershire during (a) 1998-99 and (b) 1999-2000. [30268]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 23 February 1998]: On 12 February, the Government announced allocations of £21.32 million under the Standards Fund to 65 LEAs to reduce infant class sizes in 1998-99. Those allocations were made on the basis of applications put forward by LEAs and according to criteria published in September last year and sent to all authorities. Further significant funding will be available in future years. Although Gloucestershire has not been allocated specific funding to reduce class sizes in 1998-99, I would urge the authority to continue to develop its plans for reducing class sizes to ensure that it attracts funding in the future. By the end of this Parliament, all infants in Gloucestershire, as in the country generally, will be in classes of 30 or fewer.
Mrs. Gilroy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what sums were spent on entertainment and travel by (a) the Department for Education, (b) the Department of Employment and (c) the Department of Education and Employment for each of the financial years from 1992-93 to 1996-97. [30742]
Dr. Howells:
The Department's expenditure on entertainment and travel are detailed separately in the following tables. The travel figures include subsistence costs which could be separated from travel only at disproportionate cost.
(Entertainment and Travel)
| £000 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | (b) | (c) | |
| Department of Employment (inclusive of Employment Service) | Department for Education | DfEE | |
| 1992-93 | 65 | 98 | -- |
| 1993-94 | 69 | 87 | -- |
| 1994-95 | 32 | 86 | -- |
| 1995-96 | 28 | 77 | -- |
| 1996-97 | -- | -- | 24 |
| £000 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | (b) | (c) | |
| Department of Employment (inclusive of Employment Service) | Department for Education | DfEE | |
| 1992-93 | 24,371 | 2,029 | -- |
| 1993-94 | 16,705 | 1,478 | -- |
| 1994-95 | 17,207 | 1,906 | -- |
| 1995-96 | 20,767 | 1,659 | -- |
| 1996-97 | -- | -- | 17,869 |
Disruptive Pupils
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which representatives of the teaching profession he has met to discuss the disciplining of disruptive pupils. [30480]
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Ms Estelle Morris:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not met representatives of the teaching profession specifically to discuss the disciplining of disruptive pupils. However, officials of the Department have discussed this and related matters with such representatives on several occasions.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many teachers were disciplined for using force against disruptive pupils in 1997. [30481]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The information requested is not available.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has received in respect of guidelines for teachers for the use of force in disciplining disruptive pupils. [30479]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The Department issued draft guidance about the powers of teachers and other staff to use reasonable force to control or restrain pupils, for consultation, on 16 February. We have not, as yet, received any representations about the draft guidance. The consultation period ends on 24 April.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people entered courses of initial teacher training broken down by gender, for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in the year 1996-97. [30848]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The following table shows the number of people entering initial teacher training in 1996-97, broken down by gender and phase.
| Male(12) | Female(12) | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 1,703 | 10,592 | 12,295 |
| Secondary | 6,559 | 9,038 | 15,597 |
| Total | 8,262 | 19,630 | 27,892 |
(11) New entrant figures exclude School Centred ITT but include Open University.
(12) The number of new entrants by gender has been estimated using gender splits from 1996-97 HESA data and the total number of new entrants from the 1996-97 TTA Survey of ITT Providers.
Sources:
New entrants--Teacher Training Agency (TTA) survey of ITT providers.
Gender split--Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) December 1996.
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