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Schools: PISA Tests
Lord Steinberg asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the United Kingdom's sixteenth position in tests conducted by the Programme for International Student Assessment, there will be any change to the education curriculum. [HL409]
Lord Filkin: It is the view of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the body overseeing the running of PISA, that the data for the United Kingdom from the 2003 study cannot be reliably compared with other countries' scores or with UK PISA results from 2000. It would therefore not be appropriate to try to construct a ranking for the UK against the advice of the OECD, still less to draw conclusions from doing so.
Schools: Modern Languages
Lord Harrison asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the decision was taken to make modern languages non-compulsory for children over the age of 14 in secondary education. [HL411]
Lord Filkin: The recent changes to the national curriculum for 14 to 16 year-olds, with modern foreign languages and design and technology becoming entitlement areas as opposed to compulsory requirements, were undertaken to provide greater flexibility, allowing schools to offer programmes that better meet their students' individual needs and strengths. We recognise the importance of modern foreign languages. That is why all students have a statutory entitlement to follow a languages course should they wish to do so and schools can of course retain compulsion if they so wish.
Lord Harrison asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they propose to take to counter the decline in take-up of modern language studies:
Lord Filkin: The changes to the statutory curriculum at key stage 4 were introduced to enable schools to offer more choice and flexibility to their pupils, facilitating the introduction of new types of learning—in particular more vocational approaches. This was proving difficult within the constraints of the previous requirements. The flexibility in the new curriculum creates space for students to pursue learning programmes that reflect their aspirations and needs as well as maintaining a strong grasp of the basics. In this new flexibility students have an entitlement to follow a course in modern foreign languages.
The changes at key stage 4 should not impact on our able and enthusiastic linguists, who we expect will continue to study languages at GCSE, A-level and beyond. Our ambition for key stage 2 learning is that we engage pupils when we know that they are more receptive, so that we maximise their potential for language learning. Our National Languages Strategy puts forward a vision of high-quality language learning for all, regardless of gender, supported by a new national recognition scheme—the Languages Ladder. In doing so it is in fact seeking to reconfigure the existing curriculum, extending pupils' language learning experience into key stage 2 and supporting a more flexible and personalised curriculum for the 14 to 19 phase.
Provision of a varied and personalised range of courses is being supported by new arrangements in relation to accreditation. It is now possible for students in all maintained schools and of both genders to be assessed through a wide range of non-traditional schemes, which have been given numerical equivalences by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. This includes a number of level 1 and level 2 qualifications. It also underpins the proposed reforms of the 14 to 19 agenda as set out in Mike Tomlinson's report.
There are currently 62 specialist language colleges in the north-east, north-west and York and Humber regions with more interest from schools in applying for this specialism in the current round.
There are also a number of innovative MFL-related projects taking place in the north. For example, the Sheffield-based VIPs pilot scheme aims to equip students with language skills directly transferable to the world of work. Students are allocated to an international company and visit the company during the academic year. They have a "mentor" within the company who will offer face-to-face and e-mail support. All students follow a language course leading to NVQ qualifications.
Lord Harrison asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many schools meet the government standard of modern languages teaching in primary schools of one 20-minute lesson per week. [HL413]
Lord Filkin: On 30 September this year the Department for Education and Skills published the results of research, undertaken in the 2002–03 academic year, into the extent and nature of foreign language learning activities at key stage 2. This
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research highlighted that 44 per cent of all schools teaching key stage 2 pupils in England were offering language learning programmes in some form, with 35 per cent using curriculum time to do so. Approximately 3 per cent of schools were making a 20-minute per week provision for foreign language learning for their key stage 2 pupils.
The 44 per cent figure represents a significant increase since the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and University of Warwick published research in 2000 that stated that 20 per cent of primary schools were teaching foreign languages.
Lord Harrison asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to ensure that primary schools have enough teachers qualified in modern languages tuition to meet the government standard of modern languages teaching. [HL414]
Lord Filkin: There has been considerable progress on the development of language learning in primary schools, underpinned by the launch in December 2002 of the Government's National Languages Strategy for England. The strategy recognises the importance of developing a workforce to implement primary language learning, and much of our work to date has focussed on this area.
In developing a school workforce, we are building up a cadre of both specialist teachers and non-teacher specialists to support primary language learning. 580 places have been allocated this year for primary initial teacher training with a specialism in French, German, Spanish or Italian, and we intend to expand this programme further next year. This means that over 1,200 teacher trainees will have been trained by the end of this year. In addition we have allocated 50 primary MFL places a year to the Graduate Teacher Programme.
For existing teachers, we have funded primary MFL advanced skills teacher posts and are working with the TTA to develop and pilot CPD courses for existing primary teachers to enhance language skills and MFL pedagogy.
For non-teacher specialists, we are working with the British Council to extend the foreign language assistants programme into primary schools, and are developing training for teaching assistants to support primary language learning.
Sports Colleges
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which specialist sports colleges have not been redesignated in the past three years; and for what reasons. [HL415]
Lord Filkin: One sports college (Compton High School & Sports College) has been de-designated in the past three years—because the school closed in 2003 and West London Academy, Ealing opened in its place. Academies are not eligible for specialist school status as such but do have specialisms—in this case, enterprise & sports.
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Disability Discrimination Bill: Consultation
Lord Skelmersdale asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether in their consultation on the Disability Discrimination Bill they consulted Macmillan Cancer Relief, and [HL600]
Which organisations they have consulted on the Disability Discrimination Bill. [HL601]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): Many of the provisions in the Disability Discrimination Bill were the subject of proposals in the Government's 2001 consultation document Towards Inclusion—civil rights for disabled people (Department for Education and Employment, March 2001). That document was mailed to around 6,000 interested bodies and organisations including organisations of and for disabled people, employers, service providers, trade and employer representative bodies, trade unions, public authorities and voluntary organisations.
In December 2003, we published the draft Disability Discrimination Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. The draft Bill was considered by a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament in early 2004 and attracted around 125 written and oral submissions to the committee, including a submission from Macmillan Cancer Relief. A revised Bill, covering further measures that the Government accepted following the Joint Committee's report (Joint Committee on the Draft Disability Discrimination Bill, 27 May, HC 352-I, HL Paper 82-I), was introduced into Parliament on 15 November.
In July 2004 and December 2004, we published two further consultation documents which included proposals for using regulation-making powers contained in the Bill. The first document Delivering Equality for disabled people (Department for Work and Pensions, July 2004, Cm 6255) focused on the regulation-making powers in Clauses 2 and 3 of the Bill, and nearly 5,000 copies were issued to interested bodies. Eight regional consultation events were attended by around 700 participants, and a targeted event for people with learning disabilities was also held.
The second document, Consultation on private clubs; premises; the definition of disability and the questions procedure (Department for Work and Pensions, December 2004, Cm 6402) included, among others, proposals for using regulation-making powers to exclude certain cancers from the scope of the extended definition of disability. A direct mailing exercise was carried out to a range of representative bodies, including employers, landlords, organisations representing private clubs and specialist bodies dealing with cancer including Macmillan Cancer Relief.
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The Department for Transport has consulted separately on lifting the Part 3 exemption for transport services in the DDA (an initial consultation in 2002 and detailed consultation on draft regulations launched in November 2004) and on the proposals to amend the rail provisions of Part 5 of the DDA (in November 2003). Those consulted included organisations of and for disabled people, transport industries, public authorities and trade unions.
Copies of the named consultation documents, which were also published in a wide range of accessible formats, are available from the Library.
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