Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what efforts they have made during their chairmanship of the Commonwealth Heads of Government to ensure that the history of the Commonwealth is taught in UK schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The history curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom and flexibility to use specific examples from history to teach pupils about the history of Britain and the wider world.
There are opportunities within the themes and eras of the history curriculum for teachers and schools to teach about the history of the Commonwealth at Key Stages 1-3. Schools can teach about the Commonwealth at Key Stage 1, when teaching about events beyond or within living memory that are significant nationally or globally, and at Key Stage 2, within a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066. There are also opportunities at Key Stage 3, within the ‘ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901’ and ‘challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’ themes. ‘Indian independence and end of Empire’ is one of the example topics in this latter theme. The Commonwealth also falls within the scope of the subject content set out for GCSE history.
The government shared a Commonwealth Education Pack for teachers in 2018, in support of the UK’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that year. The pack is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/department-for-education-launches-commonwealth-education-pack, and has been attached.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what decisions have been made about the provision of accelerated degree courses in higher education following their public consultation completed on 11 February.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As the Noble Lord, Lord Luce, notes, the government’s consultation on proposals to incentivise wider provision and uptake of accelerated degrees in higher education was published in December 2017. This consultation closed in February 2018.
The Department for Education received a range of detailed and comprehensive responses from providers, organisations and individuals across the higher education sector. We are currently considering these responses and will respond to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Lord Lieutenants are being encouraged to help promote the Commonwealth in schools in their counties ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in April 2018 in London.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As part of the Department for Education’s outreach to schools ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), we have prepared an education pack for 11-14 year-old school pupils. We plan to contact the Lord Lieutenants when the pack is ready to be sent to schools, with a view to asking them to support the promotion of the pack.
Schools are also free to teach their pupils about the Commonwealth as part of their school curriculum. The national curriculum for citizenship education, introduced in September 2014, sets out that pupils are taught about local, regional and international governance and the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world.
There are also a number of opportunities in the history programmes of study for pupils to be taught about the Commonwealth; for example, pupils are taught about British history from 1745 to 1901, including the development of empire; and they are taught about the end of Empire and Britain’s place in the world since 1945.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Secretary of State for Education will be representing HM Government at the meeting in Fiji of Commonwealth Education Ministers in mid February in preparation for the Commonwealth Summit in April 2018 in London; and whether the purpose of that meeting is to strengthen Commonwealth cooperation between universities and schools for the benefit of young people.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It has not yet been decided who will represent Her Majesty’s Government at the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers. However, we hope to confirm attendance shortly, subject to parliamentary business. The purpose of the Conference is to strengthen cooperation across the Commonwealth for the benefit of young people of all ages. A key objective of this year’s conference is to address and define mechanisms through which education systems across the Commonwealth can enable sustainable development, and address major global challenges, such as climate change. This is a topic, which is of importance to young people across all member states.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that schools find ways of using modern technology to learn about today's Commonwealth prior to the Commonwealth Summit in London in April 2018.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The National Curriculum for history at Key Stage 2 states that pupils in maintained schools should study an aspect or theme in British history beyond 1066. This could be used by schools to teach about the Commonwealth. At Key Stage 3, pupils should study ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901. This could include the development of the British Empire.
Pupils at Key Stage 3 should also study the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world from 1901 to the present day, which could include the end of Empire and Britain’s place in the world since 1945.
In Key Stage 4 citizenship education, pupils in maintained schools must be taught about the different electoral systems used in and beyond the UK, the actions that citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions, and the UK’s relations with the Commonwealth, the UN and the wider world.
Schools have the autonomy to decide how to teach, and many use modern technology as part of their teaching. We are looking at the role of government in supporting schools to have access to quality content and materials.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to incorporate the history of the Commonwealth into the national curriculum.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The National Curriculum for history at Key Stage 2 states that pupils in maintained schools should study an aspect or theme in British history beyond 1066. This could be used by schools to teach about the Commonwealth. At Key Stage 3, pupils should study ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901. This could include the development of the British Empire.
Pupils at Key Stage 3 should also study the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world from 1901 to the present day, which could include the end of Empire and Britain’s place in the world since 1945.
In Key Stage 4 citizenship education, pupils in maintained schools must be taught about the different electoral systems used in and beyond the UK, the actions that citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions, and the UK’s relations with the Commonwealth, the UN and the wider world.
Schools have the autonomy to decide how to teach, and many use modern technology as part of their teaching. We are looking at the role of government in supporting schools to have access to quality content and materials.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the Commonwealth Secretariat and British Council joint programme Commonwealth Class.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Education was an advocate for the British Council’s bid for funding, tendered by the Commonwealth Summit Unit in Cabinet Office. This was to relaunch the Commonwealth Class network and website in the run-up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018. The Commonwealth Class provides resources for teachers across the Commonwealth to use in their schools to increase young people’s understanding of, and engagement with, the Commonwealth. The relaunch also includes a Commonwealth Class Short Story Writing Competition for children and teachers. The department will also be supporting communications to promote the values of CHOGM to schools pupils in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they propose to send a Minister to represent them at the Commonwealth Education Ministers Conference in Fiji in February 2018.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Ministers are currently considering attendance at the Commonwealth Education Ministers Conference in Fiji in February 2018, and a decision will be taken in due course.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to include the history of the Commonwealth in the national curriculum; and if so, what steps are they taking to ensure this.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Schools are free to judge whether pupils should be taught about the Commonwealth. The national curriculum for citizenship education, introduced in September 2014, requires pupils to be taught about local, regional and international governance and the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world.
There are also a number of opportunities in the history programmes of study for pupils to be taught about the Commonwealth. For example pupils are taught about British history from 1745 to 1901. This includes the development of The Empire, and they are taught a topic on the end of The Empire and Britain’s place in the world since 1945.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to facilitate links between British and Commonwealth schools through the use of digital technology.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not directly facilitate school links. Through its Schools Online website, the British Council facilitates a number of school linking programmes, including in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat, ‘the Commonwealth Class’ which is a programme of activities, teaching resources, and events to connect schools and young people across the globe.