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14 Jul 2003 : Column 106W—continued
Qualified Teacher Status
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the oral answer of the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Poole (Mr. Syms), of 25 June 2003, Official Report, column 1047, how many of the additional 25,000 teachers have qualified teacher status; what status the remaining teachers have; and what their distribution is by (a) primary and (b) secondary sectors. [123152]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 3 July 2003]: The number of regular teachers in the maintained sector in England increased by 24,800 between January 1997 and January 2003 (provisional). The number of teachers with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) rose by 12,500. The number of teachers with professional qualifications obtained in countries outside the European Economic Area and instructors with special qualifications or experience of particular skills or subjects rose by 8,500. The remaining 3,800 of the increase is comprised of mature career-changers working towards QTS while working as teachers on employment-based training routes like the graduate teacher programme. These routes, which were first established in 1998, already provide over 10 per cent. of all newly-qualified teachers. Since autumn 2000, the earliest date for which these data are available, over 5,000 teachers on employment-based training programmes have been awarded QTS. Almost 900 of those have gained QTS since January 2003.
Data about teachers by phase of employment for January 2003 are not yet available in the form requested. Of the 24,800 increase 5,800 were in the maintained nursery and primary phase, 17,600 were in the maintained secondary phase and 1,400 were in maintained special schools, pupil referral units or education elsewhere.
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Research
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department has spent on research to help achieve its aims and objectives in each year since 1997. [124582]
Mr. Stephen Twigg [holding answer 10 July 2003]: The Department has spent the following each year since 1997:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 4.4 |
| 1998 | 4.8 |
| 1999 | 6.2 |
| 2000 | 10.6 |
| 2001 | 8.2 |
| 2002 | 9.2 |
Sight Problems
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he is introducing to improve screening of schoolchildren for sight problems. [119559]
Margaret Hodge: The Department of Health is responsible for the provision of eye checks undertaken by local primary health care teams in accordance with professional advice. The principal threats to eye health and impaired vision development should be detected, at or before school age, through health development checks or through a visual screening on school entry. Older children may develop myopia (short sight) which is usually recognised when they complain of difficulty seeing clearly at distance. Since the onset of myopia commonly occurs between the ages of nine and 16 it is not possible to identify optimum ages for screening. Children may "pass" a routine screening examination only to find problems within the next few months. Whenever parents or carers suspect that there is a problem with their child's sight they should take them to an optician. All children up to the age of 15 are entitled to free sight tests, as are children aged 16–18 if they are in full time education.
The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice provides practical advice to local education authorities, maintained schools and others on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children's special educational needs, including for children with visual impairment. The Code aims to promote consistency of approach, but, within its guidelines, it is for schools and LEAs to determine appropriate intervention based on an assessment of each child's individual needs and circumstances.
Teacher Leavers
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers have left the profession in each year since 1997. [125367]
Mr. Miliband: The table shows the numbers of teachers leaving 1 full-time or part time 2 service in the maintained schools sector in England since 1997. Data to 2001 are the most recent available.
14 Jul 2003 : Column 108W
1 Leavers are those who were in full-time or part-time teaching in the maintained schools sector immediately before the period shown, who were not in service in that sector at the end of the period shown. It includes teachers that have retired. Teachers leaving are based on pension returns. Some teachers may have moved from known service to service not recorded on the teacher pension return. Some leavers will be taking career breaks and will return to service at a later date.
2 Around 10 per cent. to 20 per cent. of part-timers may not be included.
| Teachers leaving | |
|---|---|
| 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997 | 35,650 |
| 1 April 1997 to 31 March 1998(37) | 39,050 |
| 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999 | 31,910 |
| 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 | 34,930 |
| 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001 | 35,440 |
(37) Higher than usual numbers of premature retirements, following changes to the retirement regulations, contributed to the high levels of leavers in 1997–98.
Student Loans
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of outstanding student loans are (a) loans for maintenance and (b) loans for tuition fees. [124668]
Alan Johnson: Under current student support legislation, all outstanding student loans relate to loans for maintenance.
Teachers
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers have been employed in Leicestershire local education authority area in each year since 1996–97. [125251]
Mr. Miliband: The table shows the number of regular teachers in maintained schools in Leicestershire since January 1997. Prior to 1 April 1998 Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland were part of the former Leicestershire local education authority. 2002 is the latest year for which teacher data are available.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Former Leicestershire | 7,690 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Leicestershire | n/a | 4,800 | 4,860 | 4,930 | 5,020 | 5,040 |
| Leicester | n/a | 2,570 | 2,660 | 2,600 | 2,760 | 2,710 |
| Rutland | n/a | 250 | 260 | 220 | 240 | 250 |
Teenage Pregnancy
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of teenage pregnancy literature produced by the Government; and if he will make a statement. [120771]
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Margaret Hodge: The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy national campaign was launched in October 2000 with advertisements, aimed at boys and girls aged 13–17, running in popular teenage magazines and local independent radio. The campaign is supported by a freephone advice line and website. Local materials are also available for use by local teenage pregnancy strategies.
In the tracking survey carried out as part of the independent national evaluation of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, over 70 per cent. of 13–17 year olds recognised the advertisements, a level of recall associated with television advertising. The early success of the campaign was also recognised in the first annual report of the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy (2001). Since October 2000 the freephone advice line has advised over 8 million young people, around 50 per cent. of who were boys.
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the impact of the cross-cutting teenage pregnancy strategy since its introduction in 1999. [120772]
Margaret Hodge: The most recent data for 2001 shows a 10 per cent. reduction in the under 18 conception rate and an 11 per cent. fall in the under 16 conception rate since 1998, the baseline year for the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. Participation of teenage parents in education, training or employment has doubled from 16 per cent. to 33 per cent.
These are early encouraging signs of progress towards meeting the Government's target to halve the under 18 conception rate by 2010 and increase to 60 per cent. the participation of teenage parents to reduce their long term risk of social exclusion.
However, evidence suggests that it takes many years to bring out the societal and behavioural changes required. That is why the Government have set out a 10-year Strategy.
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