Oral Answers to Questions — Education – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 January 1959.
Mr Stephen Swingler
, Newcastle-under-Lyme
12:00,
22 January 1959
asked the Minister of Education how many secondary modern school pupils sat for the General Certificate of Education examination in 1958; from how many schools; and what was the average number of passes gained.
Sir Edward Boyle
, Birmingham Handsworth
Altogether, 10,600 candidates from nearly 800 secondary modern schools were entered for the General Certificate of Education at Ordinary level in the summer of 1958. The number of subjects passed averaged two per candidate, equivalent to half the subjects offered.
Mr Stephen Swingler
, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Does not this show the welcome trend towards a comprehensive range of courses in the secondary modern schools? Will the Ministry give an assurance that they will encourage this trend so that all schools in the country will be providing a comprehensive syllabus?
Sir Edward Boyle
, Birmingham Handsworth
What the figures show clearly is that very many children are receiving advanced courses and extended courses in modern schools and that it is possible to do this without proceeding on doctrinaire lines with any proposals for insisting that all schools should cover the full range of abilities.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
