Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether her Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.
Answered by Nick Hurd
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2015 to Question 9945, who conducted the independent evaluations of 2007 and 2013; against what criteria the evaluations concluded that the curriculum promoted values of democracy, pluralism and peace; and what sources of information other than those independent evaluations her Department used to assess the quality of the curriculum in Khyber, Pakhtunkwa and Punjab.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The independent evaluations were conducted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the delivery agency of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, as part of their regular reporting to the National Education Development Partners Group (NEDPG) in Pakistan.
The NEDPG, which consists of both bilateral and multilateral donors, including the UK, UNESCO, UNICEF, The World Bank, the US, Germany and Australia, has prioritised scrutiny of the curriculum in its dialogue with the government of Pakistan. There is an implicit set of internationally agreed professional norms and standards for all aspects of education, set through the UNESCO Annual Global Monitoring Reports against which conclusions can be drawn.
While GIZ has led evaluation on behalf of the Partners Group, other members carry out reviews of the education sector, including curriculum quality, and these are pooled and used by all. In addition, DFID staff scrutinise the curriculum and its implementation as part of regular monitoring of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa education programmes.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the effect of the recruitment of doctors to the NHS from developing countries on the health services in those countries.
Answered by Grant Shapps
There are no UK-specific estimates of the impact of international recruitment of health workers.
The UK has signed the World Health Organisation Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel. Among its underlying principles is that developing nations who are experiencing shortages of healthcare staff should not be targeted for active recruitment. Adherence to the principles of the code is managed by the NHS Employers organisation.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2015 to Question 7327, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policy of promoting religious tolerance and respect for diversity of the findings on pages 10 and 11 of the report of the US Commission on International Freedom entitled Connecting the dots: education and religious discrimination in Pakistan, published in 2011.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID’s education programmes in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces support the implementation of Pakistan’s 2006 reformed curriculum which teaches religious tolerance and respect for diversity.
The UK has worked alongside the Government of Pakistan who have taken significant steps to update textbooks and replace any content that promotes prejudice and discrimination against religious or other minorities.
Independent evaluations in 2007 and 2013 confirmed this curriculum to be based on values of democracy, pluralism and peace aimed at educating students to be able to think critically about these issues.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that UK Aid resources in Pakistan are not used to purchase educational material for use in classrooms which promote religious intolerance.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID’s education programmes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces support the implementation of Pakistan’s 2006 reformed curriculum which teaches religious tolerance and respect for diversity. Independent evaluations in 2007 and 2013 confirmed this curriculum to be based on values of democracy, pluralism and peace aimed at developing critical thinking students.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts on the provision of humanitarian assistance to Greece.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
We have not received a request from the Greek government for assistance. If we do, we will assess this on the basis of need. Greece is not eligible to receive Official Development Assistance as it has a GNI per capita of around $22,000. The maximum GNI per capita for a country to be ODA eligible is around $13,000. In the short to medium term it is therefore unlikely we could provide support through the aid budget.